The Journey Home
by NewLegend1
Summary: Settings may change, but conflict doesn't. Young Spyro finds himself in a world once inhabited by Humans, now left abandoned to dragons. Destroyed long ago in a war, only Humanity's ruins remain. Spyro's world is turned upside down when a group of Sentinels arrive in his peaceful hometown. They're looking for something, but what? Alternate universe, M for violence/possible lemon.
1. Walk in the Town

Author's Comment: Hey guys, NewLegend1 here. This is a story I've been writing during my art block with my other story, The Malefor Chronicles. I've been spending the time not writing that writing this one, as well as drawing concept art for it and what not.

This is an alternate universe fanfiction featuring Spyro and cast in a different world, with familiar themes and ideas. Instead of the dragon realms, we find out hero in a post-apocalypse dystopia Earth set decades into the future following a cataclysmic world war. Dragons now rule the ashes of Earth, and have built their new society on the ruins of humanity. Not all is well in this world, and Spyro will soon find out just the trifles of this world, and who his true allies and enemies are.

I plan for this to be about 10-15 chapters in length, being a shorter story. I really wanted to explore this universe and flush it out, while keeping it open to the possibly of more if anyone is interested. This work will be rated M for violence and dark themes, and the slight possibilities of more mature scenes, but that's to be decided. Please read and review to tell me what you guys think!

[Begin Readout]

The battle of good versus evil, of light and darkness, it is as old as time itself. No matter how much you change the story, how you move the pieces around, it all ends up the same. There will always be a villain, and there will always be a hero.

In the year 2025, a terrible war was fought across the planet Earth. The details of that time are scarce, but what stories remain tell us that the humans destroyed themselves with their own weapons. We've been told that as the dust settled, none remained. However, other stories tell that it wasn't their terrible weapons that did them in. Rather, it was something else, something even more sinister. Now, the land belongs to dragons and countless other species who rose from the ashes as humanity faded into memory.

Our story begins with our hero, who has yet to realize his role in this conflict. Even in the years since the demise of the Humans, conflict and war is inevitable. The battle of the hero and villain will always continue, but first our hero has to step up to the plate and realize his destiny.

/NewLegend1 Presents…/

**The Legend of Spyro: The Journey Home**

[Begin Read Out]

Syncing…

[Done]

Chapter 01: Walk in the Town |October 23, 10:32 AM

* * *

Blue skies, oh pure blue skies. Their pure reflection cast itself from a calm pool of water, sitting idly on the ground. It had sat here for some time, looking up at the sky and the sky being so gracious to cast its own gaze down onto this simple puddle of water. The two reflected one another's essence, yet so far apart. The calmness of the water reflected the grace of the sky, as if the water wanted to become the sky itself. It was interesting to note, that the water had originated from the sky, from one of its many rain storms. The water had been born there, coming back down to the Earth. Was it home sick? Missing its old world? The world that had once been had been shattered, now forcing this puddle to live its existence out in this new world, the world on the surface.

At once the water was broken by a footfall, breaking its calm serene nature. Bits of water splashed across the rocks as a series of paws clicked against the stone bricks, propelling the creature forwards as he interrupted the bond between water and sky.

The creature in question was a dragon, the figure running through the environment around him. The dragon stopped, looking to his left, then right. Walls filled his vision, surrounding him. The walls formed an alleyway, moving between many of the buildings that were erected here. The dragon continued to search his surroundings before having his attention called elsewhere. A water droplet had fallen onto his muzzle, breaking his concentration. Peeking upwards he looked up, seeing a pipe that was damaged, now swaying softly in the breeze that filtered through the alleyway. Above the dragon could see white puffy clouds, moving softly above.

With a sigh the dragon returned his gaze back to the alleyway, turning as he moved further down. He could hear footsteps behind him, demanding his concentration. Hearing this, he jetted, moving out of the alleyway and towards the main street that moved parallel to the alley. Here in the street he moved into a crowd of different creatures, each moving about their way in this marketplace. Shops were set up on either side of the street, selling different types of food, wares or tools. Creatures ranging from dragons themselves to various bi-pedal and feral creatures roamed the marketplace, each going about their busy day. None of them paid any mind to the lone dragon as he now darted in-between them, moving from the sound of oncoming footsteps originating from the alleyway.

"Where'd he go?!"

"Anybody see him?!"

He could hear the voices back there, looking for him. They weren't going to get him… Not this time anyway.

"There he is! Get back here you thief!"

Oh damn, maybe not.

At once they charged, shoving passed the shoppers and different pedestrians. Crates, pots and various items fell to the ground, shattering and breaking as the brutes moved their way through the crowd.

The dragon grunted, sprinting faster through the crowd. He didn't even do it this time! They always blamed him for this! He had only done it that one time, he swore!

Moving quickly, he blasted passed another crowd of people, drawing their ire as he raced towards another street that met with this one. He turned right, dashing down this street, barely missing a beggar who sat on a small staircase leading to a home, asking for any gemstones or gold. The dragon continued to race through the crowd before seeing a small ladder leading to the roof. He grabbed onto the ladder, using his claws to move his way up.

"He went this way!"

"Don't let that freak get away!"

They were down below, still looking for him.

"Jeez don't these guys ever give it a rest…?" The dragon muttered under his own breath. He lay still on the roof, hoping they would scatter, not thinking to check where he was. Eventually he heard them run off, somewhere down the street.

Whew… that was a close one.

The dragon stood up now, stretching his legs before he moved back onto the street. The different people there looked curiously at the brutes as they continued to run down the street in the other direction. The dragon gave them a small huff before turning and walking away. This was the eighth time this week they accused him of stealing from their store. Sure… he might have… done it once before but I mean come on, that was somebody else! How else was he supposed to eat? It wasn't like… he had a home… or…

A family.

The dragon stopped, looking at the floor silently before lifting his head up. He was just another homeless orphan dragon that wandered the streets of this city. There were many dragons like him, who wandered the streets, just trying to survive day to day. They weren't fortunate enough to grow up with families and have all the cushions of life that came with living in the inner city. However, Spyro was different still…

The dragon looked at a nearby puddle, looking at the reflecting it cast back at him. The face looking back was purple, with two golden horns rising from the back of his head as well as fins running down the middle of his head down his neck. He was a purple dragon, he was Spyro.

There weren't many dragons like him, in fact there were none at all. Spyro was an oddity, a freak. As long as he could remember he was alone in this world, even more isolated because of his color. Some of the other orphans that roamed the streets considered him bad luck, and refused to help him or even hang out. Only a few of the dragons cared to be with him, mainly because they all felt like they were all in the same boat. Why make survival harder when you could work together?

Looking up, Spyro could see towers that rose above the small single-story buildings that surrounded him. The towers were badly damaged, crumbling even. One tower tilted slightly to the right, a sign that one day it would collapse to the city below. That day had yet to come, but like many of the buildings around here its fate had been sealed. This entire city was nothing but ruins, even some of the buildings of the inner city that the citizens themselves had constructed. They were all falling apart, built from spare rocks and materials from the older ruins that used to occupy the space here.

Looking back at the towers, Spyro began to wonder. Those towers had been there since Spyro's birth. They had been just sitting there, ominously overlooking the city. There was no rhyme or reason as to why they were built, yet there they sat in all their mysterious beauty. Sure some people lived in the bottom floors but why would anyone need such a tall, lavish building like that...?

Nevertheless they were creations of the Forgers, creations of the race that once occupied these lands before the dragons or any of the anthros that now walked the streets. They ruled these lands and now were all long gone. Now they had inherited their cities, their lands and were now struggling to get by.

Ever since then, the creatures that called this city their home had developed their own unique culture, their own unique sense of being. The city was split into several city sections, each with their own traits and different attributes that separated them from one another. The marketplace here was the obvious trait of the inner city, as well as the winding alleyways that made up the marketplace. The inner city itself probably contained most if not all the newly constructed buildings within the city itself. Everywhere else in the city, people used what structures remained as homes. Here, buildings rose from the ashes, towering over the streets below and showing the progress they had made towards making a name for themselves.

Even so, this city remained heavily divided. The immense size of the city and lack of organization ensured that the different city sections developed independently from one another. The flooded city had its own marketplace, even a harbor. They traded often with the inner city, who benefitted from having its own marketplace and a direct line out of the city where traders traveled in by land to offload their goods. The city center was like a fortress, Spyro didn't even think of going there. It sat off to the side, almost ominously as its citizens toiled away with whatever it was they did. City center folks usually never came out into the other city sections unless out of necessity. The surface city was a blend of the others, more or less the city that didn't fall into the inner city or flooded city sections. Most people who lived here lived in the surface city. It, along with vast swaths of the flooded city remained unoccupied and barren. They were ripe for scavenging, the corner stone of the markets here.

It was what drove the markets, scavenged Forger goods that people would recover from the ruins. Anything that could be found made by the Forgers went for high demand. The only problem was, there just wasn't enough man power to scorer all the ruins within the vast city to find every single gem that might still be hidden out there.

Spyro finally reached the end of the street, it coming out into a courtyard. A large crack ran through the center of the courtyard, causing the ground to be elevated on one side as opposed to the other. He could see a few dragons sitting near a small fire on the elevated side, some fighting each other over an apple. Ah… home, sweet home…

Spyro walked towards the large building on the left, the structure being one of the larger ones in the city. The inside of it was dark, unused. Metal cages were strewn across the courtyard, for what reason Spyro would never understand. The cages had wheels on them, and they were all sitting in piles and even inside the large vacant structure. Spyro wondered if they had any relation to the series of shelves inside the building. He had once explored it and found some food before but nothing else really. Why would anyone build a massive almost warehouse-type building and put shelves and metal caves with wheels inside? The sign that was barely held in place read out to be some sort of market. Man, did that used to be a massive marketplace? Spyro could only IMAGINE what it would have been like in there.

Shaking his head, Spyro walked over to the side of the building, latching his claws onto a ladder that had been fastened not too long ago. It ran up towards another structure right next door, a much taller building that went several stories up. There had been additions that the moles had made to the building itself. Another building, constructed recently, stood nearby, almost using this tower for support. These buildings were damned resilient, especially for having lasted this long. There used to be some sort of street that ran alongside the massive warehouse and this tower, but it had since sealed it up with a wall to construct another building on the other side.

Reaching the top of the ladder, Spyro gripped onto the balcony that extended out from the building's side. Spyro had punched a hole right in the bottom of the balcony just so he could reach in like this and enter using the ladder. The balcony lead right through two open doors and into a small room. This, was Spyro's home. Well, at least one of them. Spyro had a few places he stayed around the city. Some he used to… hide from people who pursued him. This was where he slept when he came to the inner city. It wasn't often he stayed long here, he felt it was way too crowded here. He didn't dare go any deeper towards the city center, he didn't feel safe there. In here, nobody bothered him. He also had a nice warm bed to sleep in, something not everyone had… Spyro was fortunate to have one. This tower was supposed to have many rooms just like this one but Spyro could never check any of the other rooms because the hallway outside his door had collapsed.

Walking over to the bed Spyro climbed up and laid down. It felt so nice to just... relax. Especially after an… unsuccessful trip into the inner city. It sucked not getting any lunch.

The sounds of claws touching wood made Spyro snap from his rest, sitting up to look at whoever was climbing into his home. A red dragon climbed up from the hole, stretching his wings as he got through. He held a small basket in his muzzle, holding it careful so it wouldn't fall down below. He was followed by a golden dragonfly, who shot out from the hole in the ground, hovering near Flame.

"Flame! Sparx! There you are, was wondering where you had gone to." Spyro said, walking over. Flame set the basket down on the floor, looking up at Spyro. Sparx zipped happily around Spyro, happy to see his friend again. Spyro felt the same way, greeting Sparx with their usual happy smiles.

"Man I was about to say the same thing about you. Was starting to think you had gotten caught by those cabbage cart guys again."

"I told you, it wasn't me." Spyro said, grunting. Flame merely smiled at him, handing him a roll of bread.

"Woah! Where'd you find this?" Spyro asked, taking the food without a second thought.

"Found it earlier today. I was out by the warehouses today and found this. It was a damn gold mine…" Flame showed Spyro the basket, the basket packed with different foods, though some were in those damned metal cylinders. Spyro hated those things but food was food. They were hard to open more than anything and were never as good as freshly cooked foods.

"You say you just found it, laying around?"

"Yeah, was kind of hidden though. Was under a cloth in one of the warehouses and I found most of these cans laying around in another crate somewhere. There's more over there I think."

"We should go check it out later then."

"You sure, I thought you hated cans."

"I do…"

Flame shook his head, only to take a bite out of another roll he had fished from the basket.

Sparx zipped by, taking a nip out of the bread Spyro was eating.

"Hey!" Spyro said. Sparx merely zipped away, gleefully chewing on the food. Flame just laughed, shaking his ahead.

Oh Flame… Spyro considered himself alone, but he could always count on Flame and Sparx to be at his side. The three had grown up together and were best friends. Like him, Flame was an orphan. The two of them just decided one day they'd help one another out to survive in this city. It wasn't long before Spyro met Sparx, wandering the streets alone. The two of them had taken the little guy in, and they had all grown to be close friends. He might not have spoken a word, but… they all managed to understand one another. Spryo and Sparx shared something special though. They shared a certain kinship in that Spyro was the only purple dragon around, and Sparx was the only dragonfly around. No other dragonflies lived here.

None of them had many friends, even amongst the other orphans. Spyro thought that maybe because Flame stuck with Spyro so much the other dragons didn't want anything to do with Flame. Maybe… though Flame didn't seem to care in the slightest. For now, he was going to enjoy the crap out of this roll.

"So how were the warehouses? Anything happening over there?"

"No… boring as ever. Did see a building collapse into the waters today near there. That was the most exciting thing happening over there. The worst part about it was Sparx humming his little songs."

Sparx scowled at Flame, zipping angerly around Flame who chuckled at it.

"Relax Sparx, I was just kidding. What about you, how was the marketplace?"

"Marketplace was the same way, though I got accused of stealing again."

"You sure you got accused or did you actually do something?" Flame said with a smirk. Spyro gave him a glum look, shaking his head.

"Hey, just saying. You did take from that one guy's cart after all."

"That was once alright?"

"Uh huh."

"Whatever…"

Flame stuck his tongue out at Spyro, he only returning it with a smirk. He would try to deliver a better retort, but hey, this bread was delicious.

/Transitioning…/

[Done]

The sun was setting after another beautiful day here in his hometown. Spyro trotted along with Flame as the two compatriots walked along a roadway, farther towards the outskirts of the surface city. Spyro had wanted to go with Flame to the warehouses, which straddled the surface and flooded cities. They had a hideout there, one Spyro enjoyed to visit often because it had a nice view of the flooded city. Getting there took a while though, easily a few hours walk. The ground began to become uneven, a sign they were close to the flooded city.

All around they saw buildings in their different states of decay, different from the inner city buildings. In the inner city and city center, the Moles and different races had made modifications to the structures, that is to say they had torn down some structures and erected their own, creating long narrow streets and alleyways where different people lived. Out here in the surface city, many of the buildings lay untouched, or at least without major changes. Here, the streets were wide open, massive in scope and size. In the inner city, they were so narrow, less than two dozen feet wide. Here, well Spyro couldn't even begin to count how wide the streets were. Here, there were even multiple streets in-between the large buildings. Man, this place must've been busy in its prime.

Several empty metal chassis lay scattered on the streets, grass and moss covering the rusted metal. These were also more common here in the surface city as opposed to the inner city. Most of the ones that had existed in the inner city had been stripped down of their metal and used to build the Mole's structures that littered the inner city.

A group of cheetahs walked opposite of Spyro and Flame, each carrying large sacks of food as they walked along the side of the road. Spyro could also see some dragons sitting near the entrance to a building along the side of the road, a small fire nearby as well. Two children were playing near the fire, the dragons obviously being their parents or guardians. Life was rarer here as well, though it wasn't uncommon to see residents here. Those who lived here wanted to avoid the clutter of the inner city. Spyro didn't blame them really. Here, it was wide open and there were probably more pickings to live from. The walk to the markets in the inner city wasn't too bad either. Well, as long as you didn't mind walking about an hour to and from.

Another group walked opposite of the trio, a group of bear bi-pedals, cheetahs and even a tiger. They wore scavenger's clothing and several of them carried the typical scavenged weapons. Here in this city, if you had a gun, you were in business. Here though, the only guns you can across were scavenged, jury rigged contraptions that sometimes hardly worked. Scavengers worked tirelessly to recreate the weapons of the Forgers, but to no avail. Most of their contraptions were second rate, broke easily or were nothing compared to an actual Forger weapon. Forger weapons were rare around here, and sold for a high price. They were often in bad shape, but they could easily be repaired. Having the parts within the Forger's weapon was priceless. Weapon's smiths were never able to fully recreate Forger's weapons, mainly because there were so few left. They had all been removed long before. Now, the rifles and weapons that proliferated through these streets were the many designs and crafts of weapon's smiths attempting to recreate what had already been lost.

"Hey, uh, hold up." Flame said, holding up his paw.

"What's up?" Spyro asked, looking around. Sparx zipped up, turning his head inquisitively to Flame.

"Think there's some activity nearby, maybe we should take an alleyway."

"Oh don't tell me you're in trouble for something, are you?"

"No, no, no nothing like that. Let's just uh… go this way." Flame quickly shot off, leaving Spyro in the street as he dashed into an alleyway. Spyro grunted, turning to Sparx who just gave a slight shrug. With a sight Spyro moved, following right behind into the crampt space between the buildings.

"What's this all about?" Spyro asked, Flame pressing himself into the wall.

"Take a look for yourself…" Flame moved his head, pointing back to the street. Spyro walked back over, peering around the corner to see just what had startled Flame.

He only saw a glimpse, but it was enough for him. There, at the end of the street coming off of the broken overpass he saw several bi-pedal dragons and cheetahs in black armor. The armor reflected the sunlight off of the surface, being of no metal Spyro had ever known. It was rumored to be stolen from the creatures that once ruled these lands, now long gone. In their arms they carried weapons Spyro had never seen before. Unlike the scavenged, jury rigged weapons carried by the denizens of this city, they looked sleek, futuristic. The weapons were encased a black casing, it looking almost crystalline in appearance. Light reflected off of the deadly weapons, intimidating even Spyro.

"Sentinels…? What're they doing here?" Spyro asked, backing away from the corner. Sparx zipped behind Flame in a scared sense, having seen them too when Spyro tilted his head around the corner.

"That's what I was wondering too. I heard they might be here in the city but I didn't believe it until I saw it myself the other day."

"But… this city doesn't fall under their control, and they're just waltzing around?" Spyro turned, looking concerned.

"I don't know, I think they're looking for something."

"Looking for what? There's nothing in this city but crumbling rock."

"It's enough for a Sentinel to rear their ugly heads. Come on, these alleyways cut through to the other side. We can still get to the warehouses from here." Spyro nodded, following Flame's lead with Sparx as they walked through the narrow passageways, dodging the Sentinel patrol.

Sentinels… where to begin with them. Those tough bastards were the foot soldiers of the Dark Master's army. They usually stayed away from cities like these, the Dark Master had no interest here. Spyro's city was just one of the many slums that dotted the landscape, far away from the Dark Master's many hub cities that were fully under his control. Were they taking over? This wasn't good for anybody if they were.

They looked like they were searching however, not really invading or occupying. What were they searching for here? Flame was right, whatever it was it must've been very important for Sentinels to have been sent in. Whatever the reason, they had to avoid them at all costs. Sentinels weren't known for their hospitality. No, they were more known for the brutality they showed upon normal citizens. While there were many races within the Sentinels, they had changed, become… corrupted almost. They weren't what they had been before, and were brutal to anybody who wasn't like them. For all his life, Spyro had never left his hometown, ventured into the outside world. What was it like out there, where these Sentinels had come from? It wasn't a place he wanted to go, that was for damned sure.

Then of course, there was the Dark Master himself. He was a ruthless ruler of the realms as they called it, the land they lived in. He ruled with an iron fist and crushed all those who opposed him. Desolate cities like the one Spyro walked in tried to stay independent or off of his radar by trying to fly under the radar, by doing nothing to draw his ire while the Dark Master went on to conquer bigger and better things. Many questioned the Dark Master's true identity, some thinking he was a dragon, some a mole, some even a lowly squirrel anthro. He had never shown his face in public, or at least in a place where Spyro had seen. He remained in his citadel far to the west, only sending his armies to do his bidding. It had been that way ever since the original inhabitants disappeared from this world. The ones who built these massive cities then suddenly vanished.

"Here, there we are." Flame said finally, walking out from the narrow passageways and out onto another street. Across from them there was a half torn down fence, with several warehouses behind it. Spyro could see just beyond the warehouses there were many more structures, but most of them were submerged beneath the waters. They were right up against the flooded city. Here, many of the poorest residents lived, living in the sinking sky scrapers beyond, forming their own independent community from the inner city. Spyro had explored some of the city, but it was pretty dangerous if you didn't know what you were doing.

Flame walked forwards, crossing the road and leaping down towards the cracked concrete where the warehouses were. Spyro looked all around, looking at the massage storage buildings, boxes, crates and several different items visible from the holes in the structures. Nearby, he could see a large open lot with several of those metal machines again. However, these were larger than the ones back there in the surface city, being much taller and either having a long flat piece of metal behind them or having massive containers themselves resting behind them. Had they once ferried supplies or items large distances? Did these warehouses supply them as they went along?

"Hey Spyro, keep up!" Flame said, snapping the dragon from his idle thinking. Spyro quickly leapt down with him, following close behind as they neared one of the buildings.

"Here, here's where I found that basket." Flame said, walking into a hole in the wall. Instead of walking into the main room itself, they were inside a smaller room. There were desks, shelves and different filing cabinets around. It looked like an office of some sorts. The room was dark and damp with little or no light. The only light that naturally filtered into the room came from the hole they had just entered.

Sparx flied into the room, illuminating it somewhat as he zipped all around, looking at the various items scattered across the room. Spyro leapt down to join Sparx who was gleefully zipping item to item. Flame leapt in after him, turning his head side to side slightly.

"Maybe there is others left around here?" Spyro said, looking around.

"Probably, we might have stumbled onto someone's stash here."

"Maybe…" Spyro said, looking around the room. It was full of old junk. Piles of decaying paper lay everywhere, yellowed and unreadable from time. Old books were scattered on the floor and some strange black flat device sat on the desk. It sat upright, as if someone sitting there was supposed to look into it. How strange.

"Damn… nothing. I wish I could have checked more last time, I might have spooked them." Flame said, knocking over a fragile box. Spyro sighed as well, looking back at the desk.

"Hey look at that…" Spyro said, walking over to the desk.

"What? Found something?" Flame asked, trotting over to where he was.

"Found… something. Look at that." Spyro reached over with his talon onto the desk, moving a piece of paper that hadn't decayed like the rest.

"Can barely see, there's no light in here." Flame said as he tried to squint at the paper.

"Sparx, come here will you?" Spyro asked. His friend obliged, flying over and illuminating the paper with his natural yellow glow.

There was a picture drawn on it, a picture of… something. It looked to be some sort of cylinder machine with a cone at its front and fins at its back. Wings extended out from the middle of the machine where two more cylinders were attached to the ends of each one. On top of those rested a series of thin strips that formed a circle pattern. It… kinda looked like a bird.

"What do you think that is…?" Flame asked, walking closer.

"I don't know, some sort of flying contraption?"

"Looks like a bird."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking." Spyro said as he looked closer. Some of the writing had faded but it was riddled with information which Spyro guessed was related to the machine.

"Looks like it all talks about the machine, talks about instructions on how it operates…" Spyro said, trying to eye out the faded text. There were scribbles nearby, hand written words with arrows drawn to different parts of the machines.

"Yeah… looks like it's called an… Osprey? What a weird word." Flame commented, backing away from the paper. It's true, that was a weird name to call something. That was the name though, written in bold at the top of the paper.

"Wonder who designed this. The Forgers maybe?" Spyro asked, continued to look at the picture while Flame looked out the damaged doorway, fixated on something.

"What's up?" Spyro asked, looking up now.

"Looks… looks like someone is watching us…" Flame said with a bit of fear in his voice.

"What?" Spyro strolled over, peaking out of the cracked window in the doorway. Inside the warehouse he swore he saw something, looking back at him. The longer he looked, the more it looked like whatever it was had moved on.

"We… we should go dude. I don't like this place." Flame said.

"What the…" Spyro squinted, walking closer to the door.

"What're you going on about now…" Flame said, turning to him.

"Do… do you see that?" Spyro pointed out, Flame directing his gaze in that direction. Flame could see out the door, out of their warehouse and into an adjacent warehouse from this angle, seeing… something inside of it.

"What is that? Looks like…"

"Looks like the cone from that drawing." Spyro said, looking back at the paper on the desk.

"That wasn't there when I checked here last time. That warehouse was empty." Flame said.

"Come on…" Spyro moved to the door, pressing against it and slowly opening it.

"Wait, what're you, nuts?! We can't go out there! What if… whatever the hell was watching us is over there?"

"Come on, we can't pass this up…" Spyro said, moving out of the room.

"You bet your ass we can pass this up! Spyro? Spyro!" Flame grunted, following the troublesome purple dragon as he had already trotted out of the warehouse and into the open area around it. Flame sprinted to catch up, looking more at the opened warehouse. The closer they got, the more of this machine they could see. It… it did look like the one from the drawing.

They finally arrived at the two main doors to the warehouse, peeking inside. What lay inside did indeed look just like the drawing, almost a complete replica. The metal bird had come to life, with what looked like both rusted and new pieces of metal holding it together. All around the floor they saw scattered parts that looked similar to the ones already on it. On the craft itself there was writing that had faded over time but was there. One read Osprey, just like the blueprints. Another on the side read MARINES in all capitals. What was a Marine? Or for that matter an Osprey? Was this what they called this thing? What a weird name.

"Man, someone's been busy." Spyro said, looking around the warehouse.

"That is cool… that really is…"

"See, and you were worried." Spyro said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, of course I'm worried!" Flame grunted back.

"What do you think Sparx?" Spyro asked, turning to his friend who zipped by his head. Sparx gave a look of optimistic approval, but kept scanning the room every so often. Spyro kind of felt the same.

"Come on, let's get a closer look…" Spyro trotted all around the craft, looking at each nook and cranny, inspecting each little detail. In the back, there was an opening, going right inside of it.

"Man, it's so cool back here…" Spyro said as he climbed inside. Flame reluctantly followed Spyro up, but was nonetheless stunned by what he saw within. There were seats, lining the walls of the craft. Were people supposed to sit in here? Did it carry people places? Man, that is so cool! Did these people lack the ability to fly themselves?

"Oh man, check this out…" Flame said, walking towards the front of the craft. There was a doorway, leading to another chamber. Inside there were two more seats, facing glass panels that looked out over the front of the craft. There were all sorts of different panels, buttons and machinery up there. It might be where the thing was controlled from. Damn it Spyro wished he had thumbs…

"This thing is in such good condition, who do you think built it?" Flame asked, turning to Spyro as he looked the seat over.

"I don't know… the moles maybe? Might be them, coming in from the inner city and building this here in secret. Those guys love to tinker."

"Yeah but… this seems above their level." Spyro commented, looking at how intricate the designs were.

"If you say so…" Flame looked around and started searching some of the smaller compartments. Spyro turned, seeing Sparx hovering over one of the seats, a small box underneath.

"What you got there Sparx?" Spyro asked as he strolled over, pulling the box out and setting on the chair with his talons. Flame walked over now too, seeing the box. Spyro tugged at the box's lock but Flame smirked at him, pushing his talons aside and skillfully breaking the lock off. Spyro shook his head at Flame who just chuckled at the sight.

"Let's find out…" Flame said as he opened it. Inside, there was more food, along with some paper and… there was something under it all.

"Woah, what is that?!" Spyro asked, seeing the strange item under the food.

Spyro pulled back the food, seeing a small black item underneath. It had a smooth black handle, and a slider mounted on top of it with a trigger. It was a gun, but none that Spyro had ever seen.

"Oh wow, never seen that kind of gun before." Spyro commented, touching it with his talon.

"Yeah, it looks in such good condition too. Doesn't look like any of the others around here. Think it's one made by the Forgers?" Flame asked, looking at it closely too.

"Might be, don't see too many of those around here anymore… " Spyro left the weapon where it sat, leaning back. Forger weapons like this were valuable, and people who could get their hands on one could make a lot of money selling them.

"We should take it, sell it. We could make so much off of this!" Flame said, excitement in his voice.

"I don't know… looks like someone left it here…" Spyro said, looking around at the obvious hideout.

"Come on dude, think about it. We could have food for months with this thing. People will pay out the wazoo for a Forger weapon. It even has some bullets in here too. Come on Spyro…"

Spyro turned to Sparx, who gave him a playful smile. He seemed optimistic about this so… what was there to lose?

"Alright, let's take it then." Spyro said, closing the box and lifting it off the chair with his muzzle, carrying it in his mouth.

"Let's go, I kind of get a creepy feeling in here…" Flame said, looking around. It was true, this place gave Spyro the creeps as well. Sparx had already left the room, flying out and back into the warehouse. Spyro and Flame followed right behind, the box of items stashed safely with Spyro.

They moved back towards the other warehouse, entering its doors and going back to the office from where they had entered.

"Hold up, let me go first." Flame said as they re-entered the office. He slowly moved through the hole, it only being big enough for one of them anyway. Spyro waited, watching the doorway and looking at the craft from where he stood. Who had made it there? Someone obviously built it recently, there were so many parts scattered around. Also, it was… wait… what the…

Spyro could see… a figure, looking back at him. Yeah, yeah, there in the shadows of the warehouse! There was definitely someone there! Had they been there the whole time, watching them? Man, that's so creepy to…

Sparx hovered next to Spyro, looking out where Spyro was looking inquisitively. Spyro turned seeing this.

"You see it too Sparx?"

The little dragonfly merely gave a shrug, not seeing what Spyro had. Spyro grunted, turning to look again.

Nothing, there was nothing there now. Where had it gone…?

Sparx turned, getting Spyro's attention as the dragonfly flew over towards the hole leading outside, looking frantic. Spyro turned his head, wondering what his friend was saying. Leaning in closer, he could hear voices outside. What the… Spyro set the box down near the hole as he crawled out of the hole, making his way back to the fence and poking his head up to see what was going on.

There, Spyro saw Flame with his wings extended as three Sentinel Guards stood over him with their weapons drawn.

"You better report anything you see to us, if you know what's good for you…" One of the Guards said, the lead one. Flame nodded quickly, looking panicked.

"Good, then stay out of our way." It said before shoving Flame aside, walking down the street and away from him. Flame grunted, rubbing his head as Spyro pulled himself over to help him.

"What happened, what was all that about?" Spyro asked.

"I don't know… they were there when I crawled over. They asked if I had seen any Humans around."

"The Forgers?"

"I guess so. That's what they call them. They said if I knew anything about them I'd better tell, or they would kill me…" Flame shook his head, getting up now.

"Man, guess we know who they're searching for now. Come on, let's get that box and get the hell out of here." Spyro said, running back down to retrieve their find. When Spyro returned with Sparx, the three of them quickly moved back towards the alleyway and away from those Sentinel Guards as they continued their walk of the warehouses.

End of Chapter 01

A/C Update: Whoops, looks like I left one of my notations in the chapter. I'll just remove that *does a quick edit*


	2. Sentinels

Chapter 02: Sentinels | October 24, 12:12 PM

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"Man, we hit the gold mine, look at all these gems!" Flame said, happily scooping their newly acquired money into a sack they had also just newly purchased. The Forger's weapon they sold went for a VERY pretty penny, garnering many gems and pieces of gold and silver.

"With this, we could eat for a year!" Spyro said excitedly as well, walking with Flame from the vendor where they dropped off the Forger's weapon. Sparx buzzed by happily as well, smiling at the sight of the gems before buzzing away. Flame fastened the pack to his side with the help of Spyro, safely tucking their newly acquired wealth away.

"What're we going to do with all these gems?" Flame asked.

"Well for one, let's get it out of here. Let's get it somewhere safe and figure out what we're going to spend it on." Spyro suggested.

"Oh come on man, we're here in a market! Let's see what they have to sell!"

"I don't know… it's a little risky walking around with this." Spyro said, tilting his head.

Flame pouted, looking around. They were inside the flooded city's market area. It was much different from the inner city's market. Small tents and huts were set up along the old roads between the buildings, all vying to sell their different items. The ground here was uneven, and because of the nature of the flooded city wooden bridges connected the various islands that still remained above the waterline. Whatever happened to this city, half of it collapsed in on itself and the vast ocean flooded it all. There were many patches where it hadn't given way, and they had all been interconnected and became the flooded city. There were also many areas where enough of the city was near the surface where people could live within the buildings that poked above the water.

Spyro walked by one of the vendors, many pieces of scrap metal laying on his shack. The sign on his vendor claimed these were once used by the Forgers as magical cleaning devices. Spyro had seen these things in old books. They used to be parts to those metal chassis scattered across the surface cities. One of them was a… muffler or something like that. Spyro didn't think they were used at all to clean something…

"Hey Spyro, check these out." Flame said, calling Spyro's attention to another vendor nearby. Spyro turned, looking at the vendor. The sign claimed "dragon armor." Dragon armor?

Spyro trotted over, seeing several pieces of armor laid out on the table, each being made from metal or a durable plastic. Many were for older dragons but there were some that were for their size.

"What do you think Spyro, should we?"

"I don't know Flame… look at the prices." Spyro pointed out, the sign asking for 50 gemstones for a set of armor.

"Ah but see, this armor is laced with the finest Forger's materials. Look, the paddings are made from their warriors armor! It is of the finest material!" The salesman, an overweight pig bi-pedal, tapped at the pieces of armor. The padding did look pretty nice, Spyro had to admit. It looked to have been taken from existing armor, cut down to size and refitted to be placed on a dragon's chest, legs and back. It was multi-layered, and when Spyro tapped his talon onto the padding itself, he could feel how dense it was.

"I am asking for but just a mere 50 gems! You might be paying 100, or even 200 in the inner city markets. Keep that in mind…" The salesman smirked at Spyro, who frowned. As good as the armor was, that was nearly half of what they had been paid for the weapon. It would be stupid to squander all their money on one suit of armor.

"Thanks, but we'll pass." Spyro said, smiling. The pig shrugged.

"You'll regret it, I hear the Sentinels are on the move. You'll WANT this protection." He tapped the armor again before turning to another customer who stopped by. Spyro ushered Flame away, who sighed at the decision.

"Come on man, it was so cool!"

"Yeah but dude, that's half our money. We should really keep a hold of some in case we run into trouble. Don't forget food."

"I guess so…" Flame said in defeat, the two of them walking slowly through the crowd of shoppers as they made their way through the market. It was so crowded here, so many people coming and going. Each of them had various items having from their clothing, bottles of water, pouches full of junk, you name it. There were also various weapons that Spyro could see within the crowd. Many were rifles or guns of some kind but they were all crude in design and make. No weapons were of the same design, all very different, very unique.

"So, what now then if we can't get that kick-ass armor?" Flame asked.

"Let's take this back to our hideout, put it in a safe place." Spyro said, motioning towards the sack of gems they had.

"Why not get some food? Am sure we could do better than canned food for tonight. Plus I could go for some lunch right about now." Flame commented. He did have a good point…

"Tell ya what, we see a restaurant around here and we'll pop in for some lunch, then take some to go. We'll eat fancy today." Spyro said, smiling.

"Now you're talking my language! I hope we find a place that makes some nice deer, it's so tasty…"

Spyro chuckled slightly at his comment, putting his paw to his muzzle.

"What?" Flame asked, seeing Spyro do this. He looked up, seeing a nearby deer bi-pedal give him a glare. Flame grunted, blushing before walking away faster.

"Smooth Flame, real smooth." Spyro said with a chuckle.

"Oh he knows I'm talking about feral deer. Sheesh people, get a grip." Flame said, shaking his head. Spyro smiled before turning, seeing another vendor nearby. There were several trinkets on his table, including a stack of circular discs. Oh hey…

Spyro trotted over, placing his talon against the discs. They were musical discs, made by the Forgers. Spyro leaned over, opening his sack that he had against his own side, pulling out a small device. Emblazoned on the side of the device were words that read "CD Player". It was an old Forger's device that could play these old discs. Spyro had looked for one of these things forever, but none had been modified so Spyro could actually grab them. They were made for people with thumbs… which Spyro lacked. This CD player had a small piece attached to it with divots where his talons could sink in and get grip onto the device. Now, Spyro could actually hold it.

He picked up a disc, making sure his talon went through the empty center, moving his paw so gravity held it in place. The CD wasn't labeled, how disappointing…

"I can assure you that disc has at least 100 of the Forger's finest works. Guaranteed." The vendor leaned in from his chair, pointing at the disc.

"We'll see…" Spyro said, fishing out a gem and setting it on the table.

"Pleasure doing business with you. Enjoy the music." The shop keeper took the gem with his dirty hands, placing It in his coat pocket before leaning back in his chair. Spyro smiled, taking the disc and placing it inside his player before letting it fall into his sack. He fished out an old pair of headphones that had been modified as well to sit on his neck, allowing for Spyro to even use them as well. Stuff like this was tricky to find for dragons. For everyone else with thumbs and… ears… this was of no consequence. For dragons, it was an inhabitance.

The disc had a few… eh songs but there were a few as well that caught Spyro's attention. He closed his eyes softly, listening to the lyrics of the Forgers, their anthems resounding within his mind as the songs played. One thing was for sure, there certainly wasn't 100 songs on this disc. Oh well, a gem's a gem.

"Hey, how come you get to buy stuff and I can't?" Flame asked, looking annoyed.

"Because the stuff I want only costs a few gems." Spyro said with a smirk. Flame scowled at that. Spyro shook his head, turning to see a small yellow dot flying at them.

Sparx flew back after having been gone for a few minutes, chewing on something in his mouth.

"Sparx, where'd you get food from?" Spyro asked. Sparx stopped chewing and looked around, as if trying to come up with an excuse.

"Oh hey, what the?! Who bit my food?!" Spyro turned, hearing someone yell that from a nearby shop.

"Sparx!" Spyro said with a bit of a laugh. Sparx shot him a 'what?' look before continuing to chew.

"Alright, well let's go. We gotta find a place to eat because it'll take us forever to get back to our inner city hideout."

"I heard that, come on let's go." Spyro said while trotting off through the crowd.

"Hey, look over there it's an eatery! Let's see what they're serving!" Flame said, running off to a shop built into the bottom floor of a damaged skyscraper. Spyro followed, the smells and aromas coming from the shop enough to make him feel as excited as Flame for food. They walked up to the shop, several tables set up outside where various people were enjoying the food prepared inside the shop.

The shop was elevated from the markets, thanks to the collapsing ground and various elevations that were seen throughout the flooded city. They were maybe… what, 20, 30 feet above the markets they were just at? All the flooded city was like this, just broken islands jutting out from the waters that slowly ate away at the city. It was definitely more interesting than the bland inner city or surface city. Though, there was a certain calm about the surface city that Spyro enjoyed, something lacking in both the inner and flooded cities.

"Man I wonder what they have… fresh deer… cooked cow… oh man I can taste it now!" Flame said, placing his paws along the railing that bordered the tables.

"Long as it isn't canned, I'll take it." Spyro said.

"Come on man, you gotta dream big." Flame said with a smirk. Sparx just shook his head, buzzing around them. Spyro smiled but suddenly turned when he heard screams coming from the lower markets. Flame turned too, stepping down from the railing and trotting over towards the edge of their 'island' to peer down.

There was a scene gathering around one of the vendors down there, and it was growing fast. Three figures stood over the vendor, reaching inside and apparently grabbing the owner. People had crowded around, blocking traffic in the marketplace as they stood a good number of feet away from the figures, and were even backing up in fear. Who were the figures…

"Sentinels…?" Flame asked, leaning in low as he identified them before Spyro.

"Them? Again? These guys seem to be everywhere now…" Spyro said, squinting and indeed seeing they were Sentinels.

"What're they saying? I can't hear them that well." Flame said, trying to lean in more but they were well over a dozen yards from the scene.

"Where did you get this weapon? Tell me!" The Sentinel yelled from below. Well, they definitely heard that. They could barely make out the owner's voice, the Sentinel's booming voice overpowering anything the owner said.

"Who sold you the weapon? Who were they?!" The Sentinel reached in more before spinning fast, throwing the owner from his vendor and right into the middle of the street. The crowd screamed, starting to scatter as the other Sentinels backed up a bit, one leaning down to grab the owner by the head, pulling him up.

"Who were they?!" The Sentinel asked. The owner looked scared, grabbing at the hand that grasped his head, looking around desperately before looking up to where Spyro and Flame were. The owner locked eyes with Spyro for a moment before raising his arm up, pointing right at them.

"Them! Them they sold me the gun!" The owner yelled. The Sentinels turned, looking right at them.

"Shit, shit!" Flame backed up, Spyro doing the same as they both darted from their spots, knocking passed several people who had gathered at the edge to look at the scene as well. The Sentinels dropped the owner, his body hitting the floor hard as they leapt up onto the vendors, leaping from shack to shack, climbing up towards their island.

"Crap, I knew that gun was bad news!" Flame yelled as they both sprinted through the crowd, pushing back several angry market-goers.

"Come on, we've got to get out of here before they catch up!" Spyro yelled to him.

"Where do we go?!" Flame asked.

"Come on!" Spyro yelled, darting down another road, skidding to a halt to make a quick left turn down another road. Flame followed, with Sparx who buzzed around the corner. They were heading towards one of the bigger islands, but they had to get to the connecting bridge.

"There, there up ahead!" Spyro yelled, seeing the bridge connecting their island to another one. This one was lower than theirs, the bridge connecting to one of the buildings that rested on that island. They darted through into the building, Flame having to leap to the side to avoid a patron who was trying to cross the bridge as well. They got several angry yells from locals who were using this building to traverse to the island they were just on.

"They still following us?!" Flame asked, darting through the hollowed out floor of the building. Spyro turned, seeing the Sentinels off in the distance, now just getting to the crossover bridge. They knew where they were, and they weren't missing a beat.

"Damn it, they're still on us! Come on!" Spyro leaped out from the window, opening his wings and flapping them hard to get air.

"Damn! Damn!" Flame yelled, leaping out to do the same. Sparx buzzed right behind, letting out a fearful squeal as the Sentinels fired their weapons nearby, blowing a chunk out of the nearby wall.

"Fire on them! Bring them down but leave one alive!" The Sentinel ordered. The Sentinels unleashed their weapons, the loud CLACKs resounding off the walls of the dead city. Rounds exploded all around them, blasting holes the size of their clenched fist into the cracked concrete. Spyro flapped his wings harder, trying to get higher and over one of the skyscrapers.

"I got them." One of the Sentinels said, the dragon in the group. His wings slowly came out, almost being twice as large as himself. He crawled out of the window and leapt out, his massive wings immediately catching air and sending him up and after the dragons. He placed his weapon on his back, flying right at them.

"They're still on us Spyro!" Flame yelled from behind, seeing the dragon now sail over the building to give pursuit.

"Come on! We can't stop!" Spyro yelled back. Spyro landed on the roof of the building, sprinting for a few seconds before kicking off and using his wings to catch the air again. He swooped down low, opting to hug the surface rather than stay above. He swooped only a few yards above the street itself, taking care to avoid poles or spires from below. Flame was right behind, but so was the dragon. Spheres of black fire landed all around as the dragon came in from above. People screamed down below as their tents caught fire or they themselves were hit with the devastating attacks.

Spyro turned right, left, right then left again as he turned at every opportunity he could in an attempt to lose their pursuer. He saw a building nearby, with one of its windows already blown out. He grunted, aiming right for it.

"What're you crazy Spyro?!" He heard Flame say before Spyro flew right through, threading the needle. He flew into the room, nearly missing a wall but hitting a dresser and flipping around onto the floor. He slowly got up, rubbing his head just in time to see Flame leap in, yelling at the top of his lungs before he plunged right into a pile of old decaying Forger's clothing.

"Blech! That's gross!" Flame said as he sat up.

"Quiet!" Spyro said lowly as Sparx zipped in right behind Flame. Flame grunted, nodding slowly as he got up and trotted away from the window and into the hall with Spyro. They dashed down the hall in the hopes they could elude the dragon.

The dragon blew the window open with an attack, landing upright and inspecting the room. Taking a quick whiff of the air, he smiled and slowly moved down the hallway, flexing his claws.

"I love a good chase, but why don't you surrender. I might just let you live if you tell me what I want…" The dragon said lowly, placing his massive claws on the doorways as he passed. Spyro and Flame grunted, hiding in the kitchen to what they only guessed was an apartment. All the windows were boarded up, or blocked. They had to find one they could escape from… or else it'd be a matter of time.

Spyro opened a door slowly, looking into the next room. It was a closet… damn it! Wait, there was a hole there! There, at the base of the wall was a hole, leading into another apartment. He could see light coming from the other side, perhaps it was an open window. The hole was only big enough for one of them to go through.

"Flame I'll go first, stay here…" Spyro said lowly as he flattened his body to allow him access. Moving slowly he passed through the hole. It was agonizingly slow however, as he had to take care not to make noise.

"Hurry Spyro I think he's down the hall…" Flame whispered, pressing his body into the wall. Sparx hovered nearby, a look of fear on his own face before he zipped through the hole with Spyro.

"W-wait don't leave me…" Flame said in great fear, seeing Spyro's tail slip through. Flame took in a sharp breath, leaning down to go through now. He poked his head through, moving inch by inch through the hole. He could see Spyro on the other side, peering out a window as he used his paws to quickly usher Flame through. Letting out a relieved pant, Flame crawled a little faster through the hole, fear still flowing through his body. He finally got his body through, slowly moving his legs now. It was then that he felt a massive hand grip his tail, pulling him back through.

"Nooooooooooooooooooo!" Flame yelled, trying to grip the floor as he was dragged back through the hole.

"Flame! No!" Spyro yelled running back to the hole.

"I have you now…" The Sentinel said, throwing Flame against the kitchen wall as he pulled him all the way through. Flame yelled in pain as he slammed against the wall, falling to the floor. The dragon walked over, standing right on top of Flame before grabbing his head and pulling him up. The dragon's right hand wasn't natural, it was metal, artificial. Gears clicked as his hand gripped Flame's head with such power, the cold metal pressing deep into his scales. He breathed deeply in and out, clenching his eyes shut.

"Now, make this easy on yourself… where did you get that weapon…" The dragon asked.

"I… I… we just found it!" Flame said, a tear dripping down his face.

"Oh so you just found it did you…?" The dragon smirked, clenching his claws harder before flinging him into a table, the table breaking in half as Flame collided with it. Flame let out a grunt of pain, slowly moving as his whole body was rocked with pain. The dragon stepped over Flame again, placing his foot right on his back, keeping him down.

"Now… where did you find it? Answer correctly and you might just live…" He moved his right hand, the claws reforming into a single spike capable of piercing through Flame's scales and skin. Flame began to breathe faster again, panicking.

"Flame! Stay down!" Spyro yelled as he fully crawled through the hole, opening his muzzle and blowing fire onto the Sentinel. The Sentinel raised his hand, blocking the flames before letting his foot off of Flame, allowing him to move again.

"Oh how cute… you've come to his rescue…" The Sentinel leaped forward, smacking Spyro with his arm and sending him into the wall. Spyro hit hard, falling back down to the floor. He got up quickly, however, unleashing another wave of fire before leaping to the side to avoid another strike from the Sentinel. His armor absorbed Spyro's fire, the dragon charging again. He swiped at Spyro again, nailing a hit. Spyro skid against the floor, the Sentinel grabbing him by the head and slamming him right down onto the kitchen counter. His head hit hard, sending a spike through his head. He kept his head there, clenching hard with his artificial right hand.

"Now, now this is interesting. What do we have here?" The Sentinel inspected Spyro more thoroughly now, picking him off of the counter and dropping him onto the floor.

"A purple dragon…? Why, that is curious indeed…" The dragon kicked Spyro in the stomach, eliciting a yelp from the smaller dragon. The Sentinel rolled Spyro over, inspecting him more again.

"Now, the commander is going to be interested in you. Even more so than this little hunt…" The Sentinel turned, looking at Flame who was trying to crawl away.

"I just have to finish up here…" He walked over to Flame, pressing his foot against him again. His hand formed into the spike once more, he leaning in to grab Flame and press him against the wall again, the spike now against his back.

"Say goodnight little one…" The Sentinel said. Flame whined in fear, breathing faster and faster as his eye clenched.

"F-flame… Flame!" Spyro yelled, rolled over, seeing what the Sentinel was up to. "Noooooooooooooo!" He yelled, standing up and opening his muzzle. A blast of energy escaped from his muzzle, the force coming out in the form of earth energy as the blast knocked the Sentinel against the wall. The force made the Sentinel release Flame, who slid down the wall and onto the floor. The Sentinel groaned in pain, the back plates of his armor having been blown off with Spyro's earth attack.

"Why… you little bastard…" The dragon muttered as he turned around, facing Spyro. Spyro panted, growling at the Sentinel.

"You… you leave Flame alone!" Spyro yelled.

"Gladly!" The dragon responded, leaping at Spyro. Spyro clenched his eyes again before another blast escape, blowing the Sentinel through the kitchen wall and into the wall.

The Sentinel grunted, getting up slowly as Spyro walked closer, anger in his eyes. The Sentinel growled, raising his arms to strike again. Sparx zipped by, flying in his face. The dragon roared, flailing his arms to swat at the dragonfly as he flew around his face.

"You blasted creature! I'll kill you!" He yelled. Spyro took his chance, lowering his horns and giving a charge. His horns connected with the Sentinel's stomach, shoving the creature through the second wall, pushing through the building's side. The Sentinel yelled as he was pushed through, the wall giving way to the sunny sky beyond. He tumbled out, his body spinning out as he left the building's envelope. Spyro panted, standing at the edge of building. He watched as the Sentinel tumbled helplessly down below, giving out a defiant yell the whole way down. The dragon hit the ground hard, a soft thud accompanying his impact into the ground. Dust shot up from the impact, slowly fading away, as did the echoes of his impact across the walls of the nearby buildings. Finally, the dust settled over the dragon, who lay on the ground unmoving.

He was dead.

Spyro… had killed him.

Taking deep breaths, Spyro slowly backed away from the wall. He almost stumbled over his own feet, forcing him to press himself against a wall for support. He slowly slid down the wall until he hit the floor, still panting from the experience.

"S-spyro… you did it…" Flame managed to say as he laid nearby, having watched the entire scene. Flame's body was bruised and beaten, but he didn't look serious. Thank the ancestors, they had survived.

"You alright Flame?" Spyro asked, wanting to make sure he was fine.

"My whole body hurts… but I think I'll live…" He said, slowly getting up. He groaned at the pain but stood up nonetheless. Spyro let out a sigh before standing up himself, trying to shake off the deep pain that rocked his head. That dragon did a number on him…

"I… I didn't know you could use Earth." Flame said, having seen Spyro use the element.

"I uh… I didn't know either…" Spyro said, looking at the floor then at Flame. It was true, he was a fire dragon, wasn't he? He knew he was never the correct hue to be a fire dragon but… that's the way things were. You breathed one element, no more. Spyro had just breathed two elements… that was…

It was unheard of.

"Come on Flame… we have to move before those other Sentinels catch up…" Spyro said, trying to regain his stature. Flame grunted, looking exhausted already. Sparx flew by with a worried look on his face before his eyes went wide, hiding behind Spyro.

"What? What'd you see buddy?" Spyro asked. He didn't have to wait long, as two figures landed on a rooftop nearby. The two Sentinels had caught up to them.

"Down Flame! Down!" Spyro yelled as he saw them raise their weapons. Loud CRACKS resonated through the city section as bullets blew through the apartment. Bits of plaster, wood and concrete flew through the air as the bullets blasted their way through the wall. Spyro crawled his way back into the kitchen from the exposed hallway, covering his head as the bullets continued to rain in from the outside.

"Shit! Shit!" Flame yelled, covering his own head as he pressed himself against the kitchen wall.

Finally after almost a minute of bombardment, the bullets stopped, a soft layer of dust settling over the two dragons who lay inside the room. Spyro was first to move, slowly removing his claws from his head and peering up. Light filtered in from the holes that now covered the kitchen's walls. Whatever those two were packing, it was serious. Flame moved next, along with Sparx who had to shake himself to get the dust off of his wings. Flame grunted a bit as he moved a piece of plaster that had come to rest on his side, slowly shoving it aside. Spyro moved towards the wall, looking to see where the Sentinels were.

Outside he saw nothing, the Sentinels had moved. Shit… where had they gone? They had to move before…

At once, the wall where Spyro was resting against gave out, one of the Sentinels on the other side. A cold hand grabbed Spyro by the neck and threw him against the kitchen wall. Flame reacted fast, getting up and attempting to help but he was knocked into the wall by the second Sentinel who walked in. The first Sentinel walked over to Spyro and grabbed him again, pinning him against a wall.

"Well it seems these little whelps were kind enough to kill our partner…" The Sentinel, a large bi-pedal bear said as it gripped Spyro. The bear no longer resembled a bear, now just a hulking bi-pedal with some fur on his purple skin. Spyro wasn't even sure what the hell he was anymore. The second Sentinel, what Spyro would guess to be a raptor moved over Flame, pressing his foot against him just as the dragon had before.

"Yes… I think we should gut them, right here and now." The raptor said, sniffing Flame and licking his lips.

"You can eat that one. This one comes with us, I think the commander would very much like to see him."

"Oh, come on, not even a bite?"

"No, but that doesn't mean we can't rough him up first…" The bear said before slamming Spyro into the wall, causing him to groan in pain. Sparx flew around the anthros, trying to distract them. The bear merely swatting Sparx to the floor, giving him an annoyed huff.

"Crush that bug, will you?"

"With pleasure." The raptor said, walking towards it.

"Sparx no! Get away!" Spyro yelled, the dragonfly still dazed from the hit and unable to move. The raptor smiled before raising his foot above it, preparing to step on his friend.

"Noooooo!" Spyro yelled, clenching his eyes shut.

There was a soft squishing sound, and a gag. Spyro opened his eyes, only to see the raptor having moved, an arrow lodged in his neck. The raptor was gagging as he grabbed at the arrow, his eyes wide.

"What the…?!" The bear released Spyro, letting him fall to the floor. The raptor backed up, gripping the arrow tightly before another flew in, nailing him right in the back of the head. The raptor let out a death gag before falling over on his face, barely missing Sparx who had gotten up by now and buzzed away.

"What is this?! How many of you are there?!" The bear asked, raising his weapon to fire out the doorway and into the hole where Spyro had shoved the dragon through. "Show yourself!" The bear yelled.

The bear received an answer, in the form of another arrow. This one punctured his eye and elicited a howl of pain from the bear as he spun over onto the wall. He dropped his weapon, now using both hands to grip the arrow. Another arrow flew in, nailing him in the neck, much like what had happened with the raptor. The bear let out a disgusting gargling sound before looking at Spyro and falling over onto his face. His eyes stared out, forever locked with Spyro who had backed up into the wall by now, panting as he watched the blood pool from their wounds onto the floor.

Flame was unconscious by now, laying nearby as the bear's arm now lay on his back. Spyro panted as he could barely make out a figure moving towards him from the hallway, but his vision was blurred now. He could barely see… barely make out anything as he saw something towering above him. Fear and anguish both gripped him as he started to fade away, the figure reaching down to him. He swore he felt some fur before he completely blacked out.

/Transitioning…/

[Done]

Spyro slowly stirred, his whole body aching with pain as he slowly tried to move. His head was throbbing… and he could hear his heartbeat slowly thumping throughout his body. What had happened…? Whatever it was, he got knocked the hell out.

He could see a dim light, just off to his side. The room where he rested in was dimly lit, and he could see the walls were slowly cracking from the ceiling. As he moved his head across the room, he saw Flame resting on a bed beside his own. Wait, a bed? Where was he? What the hell happened?!

Oh right! The fight! The Sentinels! Had he been captured?! Was Flame alright, what had happened?!

"Looks like you've woken up. You were knocked out pretty hard there."

Spyro snapped to the new voice, seeing a bi-pedal cheetah standing in the doorway to the room. A cape came down from his back, and covered his chest. It ended in a hood that hid his eyes, Spyro only able to see the glimmers of his pupils looking at him from the shadows. Armor rested on his chest, strapped on from what looked like Forger's armor. The armor looked like it had been put together from various sets, and the paint on his chest plate had long faded, though some remained. Spyro could barely make out the word "RANGERS" stenciled onto the armor itself, showing up just subtly in the dim light. He could also see a bow and set of arrows resting on his back.

"Who… who are you? Were you the one who saved us?" Spyro asked, sitting up on his bed.

"Indeed. I've been tracking those Sentinels for a few days now before I saw them stumble onto you. I was going to let them pass until I saw them take a great interest in you. Those Sentinels were looking for something, and I was trying to find out what it was. I was hoping you two could help me out, now that my cover might be blown."

"We… they were looking for a Forger's weapon, that we had recovered from some warehouses."

"Forger's weapon? Curious. Now why would they expend that much effort to find a single weapon... Was it quite powerful?"

"I… I don't know. It looked like a little gun to us. Wait, I do remember the Sentinels asking us if we had seen any Forgers around- Humans."

"Humans? They're looking for Humans? Here? It strikes me that they're even looking at all."

"Yeah, I thought they were all extinct."

"Yes, it seems curious that they would be looking here for such a thing. The Dark Master's probably got them jumping at ghosts again. It wouldn't be the first time. Also, it seems that they had taken a big interest in you young one, outside of that other inquiry."

"I guess so… They mentioned I was purple, other than that I don't know what they'd want with me. I haven't done anything to anyone."

"Well… it does strike me odd that you are purple at all. I've never seen a purple dragon before, and didn't think that color occurred amongst your species." The cheetah said, rubbing his chin before kicking off the wall and moving into the room.

"Me either… So… what's your interest in them anyway? You hunting Sentinels?"

"You… could say that. Where are my manners, my name's Hunter. I'm part of the Order of Avalar, a small group of fighters who are actively trying to undermine the Dark Master's efforts to annex the eastern coasts. I came to this city to investigate the Dark Master's interests here. He's deployed a sizable scouting group and from what you've told me, it sounds like they're just jumping at ghosts. I highly doubt they'll find what they're after here. On the other hand, their interest in you is quite fascinating. I wonder what they see in you that constitutes a threat…"

"I wish I knew, really. My name's Spyro by the way."

"Nice to meet you Spyro."

Spyro smiled, rubbed his head, looking at the ground. He turned, seeing Flame still resting on the bed.

"Seems your friend there took a hard beating during the fight."

"Will he be ok?"

"Oh yes, he just needs some rest before he'll be back up and running. Both of you took some nasty hits but luckily it doesn't look like they did too much damage." As Hunter finished his sentence, a yellow dragonfly entered the room, smiling and giving a cheerful look as he saw his friend up and about.

"Sparx! There you are!" Spyro said with a smile of his own. The dragonfly zipped towards his friend, buzzing in a circle of excitement. Hunter chuckled softly.

"I'm going to head off in the morning, report back what I've found here. I would suggest you two hide yourselves in the meantime, these Sentinels won't show mercy the next time they find you."

Spyro looked at the floor softly again, frowning.

"What else can we do? I don't even know why they are interested in me other than… my color." Spyro looked at his paws now, observing his purple hue in the dim light.

"Me either, but it would do you good to rest and lay low. At least until these Sentinels move on. They won't likely find anything here besides you, don't give them that opportunity."

Spyro nodded slowly, yawning a bit as he looked back down at his bed, adjusting himself.

"Thanks again… Hunter…" Spyro said, smiling up at him. The cheetah smiled back, nodding.

"Just remember young dragon, you're not alone out here, you have allies." Hunter turned, walking to another room in the dimly lit house. Spyro moved himself, laying back down onto the bed. He used his paw to slowly draw the covers over his body again, resting his wings down onto the soft fabric. He rested his head against his paws and closed his eyes softly, letting sleep once again take him away from these strange, strange series of events.

End of Chapter 02


	3. Jericho

Chapter 03: Jericho

October 25, 11:13 AM

The next morning was bright, and only a few clouds stirred above the city as the sun gave its rays to the citizens below. Hunter had left earlier that morning, and had left a note for Spyro and Flame who had woken up after his departure. Hunter was off to join the rest of his Order, while Spyro and Flame were left to their own devices back here. Back here, in the city with Sentinels…

Hunter's hideout was in the Flooded City, near one of the lower ports. It was just a small shack, one of many that had been built in the almost shanty town.

Looking out, Spyro could see the port they were in, it being tucked away near one of the taller islands that rose from the waters of the Flooded City. The area here didn't look like it ever had bordered the water, but because of whatever happened to this city the area now sat right up at the water line. This particular area had sank just enough to where it was maybe a foot above sea level, making it ideal for merchants to construct a port. All along the waterline different creatures walked, going from busy marketplaces to their small wooden fishing boats that rested against the makeshift docks. Birds flew overhead as the sounds of busy shoppers filled Spyro's ears. Walking through the crowds, Spyro could see the various merchants set up here. They weren't unlike the ones they had passed through yesterday, only these specialized in fish and food that they had received from the fishers. Occasionally, there would be items scavenged from sunken areas farther out into the sea that merchants and fishers had brought back. Several unique items sat in the shelves, obviously from lands far away. Traders here often traded with cities or groups far away, from places Spyro couldn't even pronounce or think of. What could lie out there, beyond the waters?

Looking at the water, Spyro could see the boats as they sailed through the port. They had to take care to avoid the buildings that rested within the water and even poked out. Some areas of the city had sank even deeper than this one, remaining submerged below the water. It was easy to smash your boat against one of the buildings, and put an end to anybody thinking of going into dangerous areas. Most of the boats here were made of wood, and all varied in designs. Spyro could tell which boats came from abroad since he had never seen their designs before. Every now and again Spyro would see a Forger vessel sailing on the waters. They weren't uncommon around here, and only the luckiest- or richest- would use them. They were indeed rare finds, since the material they were made out of was almost impossible to replicate since nobody even knew what material it was. If one of the boats sprung a leak, it was a great tragedy since it was hard to fix them.

"Hey Spyro, look." Flame said, interrupting Spyro's thoughts. Spyro turned, looking at what his friend was pointing at. Black clouds sat in the horizon, slowly approaching the city. It was a storm…

Sparx gave a frown and sank a bit in disappointment at the sight. Sparx hated the rain since the water would weigh down his wings, making it impossible for him to fly. Spyro smiled at Sparx before turning to Flame.

"We better find a place to wait it out, looks kind of bad. It'll be a while before we can get back to the Inner City and drop off our stuff." Spyro said.

"Yeah… I just don't feel so safe with those Sentinels walking around."

"Don't worry… we'll lose them in the Surface City. I don't think they have enough Sentinels to cover every inch of this city."

"They found us that first time."

"Well we just have to hide better…"

Flame shook his head, obviously still worried about the Sentinels. Spyro could understand his worry. Why were they even pursuing Spyro? Why were they looking for humans either, weren't they all dead? None of this made any sense.

"Come on, this way." Spyro said, turning to one of the streets. They had to get back into the Surface City, which meant going up to ground level. A section of the Flooded City was slanted, like a hill. It connected the Surface and this area of the Flooded City since this area was at a much lower elevation. The ground was uneven here, and some of the buildings were hazardous to be in since it was all unstable. Signs were erected warning youngsters or other curious folks to avoid these buildings since they could give at any time, or collapse if disturbed. Spyro wondered why people even resided in these areas since the collapsed ground meant the entire area was unstable and could give at a moment's notice. It hadn't happened- yet. However, it didn't mean that it wasn't possible.

The way back up only took a few minutes, and they didn't see many people on the way up. This was an empty area, because of the unstable structures. They were ripe for scavenging because of this, and every now and again Spyro would see a few bi-pedals going through buildings or tossing crates of scavenged goods to the street for transportation later. Spyro was honestly surprised there was much left in these buildings to scavenge after all this time. Then again, there was a lot of city to cover.

Clouds began to darken the sky, blacking out the sun that had up until now been shining down onto the trio as they moved through the broken Surface City. They had finally reached the end of the slated section and were once again on solid ground.

"Hey look over there, let's wait it out in there." Spyro pointed at a building just down the road. Those metal chassis were all around this particular building, all backed up on the street. Moss and grass grew from the broken concrete, moving up to ensnare the metal from the Forger's vehicles and trap them forever against the street. Spyro had seen an old book somewhere once calling these things "cars". He thought the word "chassis" sounded cooler, but that was just him.

"Come on, before you get all soaked." Flame said, walking passed the cars and going towards the building. Spyro followed closely, moving towards the stairs that lead to the building's entrance. Above there was a decayed sign that was barely readable, Spyro only able to make out "Library" in the sign. A library huh? These were rare in the city, and Spyro had only seen one, and it was much smaller than this, and in much worse condition. This one was still in one piece. Well, the left wall was damaged and a tree was trying to grow in the debris over there… but it was still standing, that was all that mattered.

They reached the top of the stairs, walking towards the main entrance. Spyro stopped, looking around. There were decaying posters and small fences that looked like they had once formed a barrier around the entrance. Empty crates and boxes were scattered all around, though these were different. They were made of cloth instead of the usual cardboard, wood or even metal.

Suitcases, was that the right word? Spyro had heard of them, and quite a few were at his home in the inner city. Why were they here? The posters on the walls were barely legible anymore, having long decayed sitting on the surface of this wall.

Flame slowly pushed on the door to the library, entering just as rain started to sprinkle onto the street outside. Sparx buzzed in quickly, wanting to be as far away from the rain as possible. Spyro smirked at this, following Flame through the open doors.

Inside, the library was dimly lit, only lit from the light coming in from outside. Large bookshelves filled the main room of the library, which formed a giant square with a second floor and balcony towards the back. Stacks of old books lay nearby on the floor, next to empty shelves. The books looked as if they were picked through and were being organized. Next to books lay more of those suitcases from outside, including other things like clothes and other personal items that were being neatly stored in boxes. To their left, there was an old table set up with decaying papers on it, and something red that was smeared on the surface. Whatever it was, it had long dried up and was starting to chip away with age. More items were scattered on the floor, near more empty shelves. This had been lived in at one point.

"I thought I heard something! You there! Stop where you are!"

Spyro looked up, seeing a large bi-pedal mole peek its head over a stack of books.

"Who, us? Did we do something wrong?" Spyro asked, pressing his paw against his chest.

"No, no, no, don't tell me you dirty scavengers found your way into our library. You can't have any of these books! I don't care what you're selling these are priceless!" The mole leapt over, picking up the nearest book to Flame, who sat back, shocked at the Mole's actions.

"Woah! We're not here to take your books, we swear! We're just here riding out that rain." Spyro said, trying to explain himself.

"Then what's with your little satchel there?" The Mole said, pointing to the pack hanging from Spyro's side. Spyro turned, looking at it before looking back at the Mole.

"Well… we uh…"

"I knew it, bunch of scavengers." The Mole said, climbing back onto his pile of books.

"Hold on, we don't want your books." Flame said, shaking his head.

"What kind of books are they?" Spyro asked, leaning down to inspect a few that were nearby.

"They're the lost knowledge of the Forgers, that's what." The Mole said, leaping down and walking over to the messy stack, picking up a few and organizing them.

"I've only seen a few places with this many books… surprised they're all still here." Spyro commented as he walked forward, inspecting the large room more.

"They're still here because scavengers overlooked places like these for the flooded city. Many of the old books are still here, and thankfully some are still in good condition." The Mole picked up a book and opened it slowly before inspecting the pages. The pages were yellow with some wear around the edges. The elements had not been kind to these books, but from what Spyro could see, the books were still very much readable.

"We're in the process of cataloguing these books and transcribing them to save the knowledge the Forgers left for us. It would be a great waste to let all this knowledge fade away…" The Mole walked over with the book, setting it down on a nearby table. Sparx flew near it, looking at the book's worn cover before flying away, moving all around the vast room.

"What do all these books have in them?" Flame asked, curious himself after looking at one of the books that was on the floor.

"What do you think? They're books." The Mole said, walking over and swiping the book away from Flame as he got closer. Flame just rolled his eyes. The Mole gave a low sight.

"They're not that different from books written today. There's different stories that are told, as instructional books and historical books. They could help us find out what happened to the Forgers, and where they went." He said, elaborating more with a bit of an annoyed voice at first, while transitioning to something more tame by the end of it.

"That's easy, they destroyed themselves in a war." Flame said with a smirk.

"If you believe everything you're told… I say there's still much left to find out about them."

"I heard that some Sentinels are looking for Forgers. Is it true that they're really gone?" Spyro asked, curious on that subject now.

"Well, nobody can be sure you know. They say they're gone, but I hear all sorts of stories coming from up north near the forbidden areas."

"Forbidden areas?" Spyro asked, tilting his head.

"Really, you haven't heard of the forbidden areas?" The mole asked, looking bewildered.

"Um… well… we really haven't seen much outside this city." Flame explained, pressing his talons together innocently. The mole gave a low scoff at that.

"Really, kids today."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Flame asked, a little annoyed.

"The forbidden zones are areas to the north, where nobody's settled yet. They call 'em forbidden because there's all sorts of superstition about what lies in those regions, and why nobody's ever settled there. I think it's just more Sentinel propaganda. I do think something's out there, but nobody's got the guts to go there."

"You think Forgers are there?"

"I doubt it. Nobody knows where they've gone. However, if Sentinels are looking for Forgers, that ought to tell you something. Sentinels have usually kept themselves to the far west to their cities but they've been poking around these past few years. Who knows what that insidious Dark Master is up to now."

"What do you know about the Dark Master?"

"Just that he rules from his perch out to the far west. They say he's itching to rule these lands and has the manpower to do so. If he does, why doesn't he just invade? I think he's bluffing about how tough he is. I think people give him far too much credit for what he's done." The Mole crossed his arm, as if annoyed by the subject.

"Well least that means him and his Sentinels will stay out west…" Flame said, rubbing his arm.

"We can hope. He gets bolder each season. This region is far too unorganized to fight him if he does decide to come knocking."

As the Mole spoke, Spyro had opened one of the books on the floor, using his talon to carefully turn the worn pages. It was a novel, a contemporary novel about life during the time of the Forgers. Spyro was intrigued, reading further. The main character seemed to have so many problems from his job, but did what he could to provide for his family. He was going to travel to this place called… New York City? He had just received a mysterious… phone call from an uncle he had thought was long dead. He was going to travel to New York City, and was going to fly there the next morning.

Phone call, what was that? Spyro had heard of one before… could you really talk to someone so far away with one of those? Also, he talked about flying there in one day… Could the Forgers really fly? Wait, that craft him and Flame found in the warehouses the other day, was that what they used to fly? Did the Forger use that to fly to New York? Man, what a time it must've been to live in…

"Hey, hey! I said don't touch!" The mole said, running over and swiping the book away that Spyro had been reading. Spyro grunted, stepping back.

"Hey cool, look at this Spyro!" Flame said, walking over to a nearby wall. Spyro set the book down, walking over. There, on the wall there was a large map, depicting a large landmass highlighted in light green. Very faintly, Spyro could make out the words "United States" on the top of the map. There were all sorts of markings on the maps, probably from the Moles themselves. There was a mark near the southeast part of the map, probably where they were as it had a large X on it. The western-most areas were marked off with purple, the words "Dark Master" written on top. The purple region stretched all the way across near the center of the map. All along the eastern coast there were more marks, smaller than their X. Were they other cities? There sure were a lot of them, they dotted the entire eastern region. There, to the northeast Spyro could see a large area marked off in red, marked "forbidden zone". There was another to the far, far south as well.

Notes were scribbled to the right-hand side, talking about different trade routes and factions that were apparently not marked on the map. Man, how much more was off the map? Spyro had seen this particular map before but didn't know how to read it, or where they were on it. Spyro had seen maps of the entire world, but they were all so faded Spyro couldn't make heads or tails of them. Plus all the books talking about them were long rotten.

"I hope you haven't touched those maps. Some of those are rare finds." The Mole said, walking over.

"Relax, we're just looking." Flame said with a low chuckle. The Mole shot him a look before looking at the map itself.

"What is all this?" Spyro asked, curious now.

"If you must know, this main one is our map of the world as it exists now, more or less. Can see the areas there, the forbidden zones." The Mole said, tapping at the main map softly.

"This where we are?" Flame asked, placing his talon on the X.

"Sure is, we're tucked away from the world here. Though that purple area's grown a lot in these past years. The Dark Master's making a push for the east coast. We won't be safe long here." The Mole crossed his arms. Spyro looked at the map again, his eyes moving to the forbidden zone in the northeast. It looked as if a lot of older cities were in that area… Boston… Philadelphia… New York… Hey, New York! Is that where that city was from the book? Right inside the forbidden zone… Now Spyro was more curious about that city. It looked like the biggest dot on the map, besides the other dot with the star, labeled Washington D.C. That one, however was outside the forbidden zone. The farthest settlement north looked like a city outside of Washington, in Baltimore. It was sitting right along the edge to the forbidden zone. There was a purple X on that city though… why was that one marked purple?

Near this map there were more maps, similar to the big one on the wall but smaller, and some with different notations. There was one map Spyro saw that had several areas with black lines through them, with arrows pointing in every direction. What a confusing map! Looking at it closer, Spyro saw that the arrows were originating from several points, but all coming towards the blacked out areas. They were labeled "safety zones." Safety zones? Safety from what?

"This a map wall or something?" Flame asked, not noticing the other maps as well.

"Sure is, we've made a collection of them, and placed them here. Any map we find we place on there, for a record."

"What's wrong with that map, can hardly read it." Flame said, pointing at the one Spyro was looking over.

"It was one of the maps we found here. Not sure exactly what it is, since it doesn't match any types of maps. We think it was made near the time of the war, and was fairly recent. That insignia on the bottom there, it's the symbol of the old world military that used to be here."

Spyro looked closer at the map, and at the symbol. The symbol was faded, but he could see a circular symbol with a feral eagle in it, along with a few other things he could barely make out. At the base it read "US Army." Guess that's what the military was called back then- for the humans anyway.

"Hey Spyro look, the rain's dying down." Flame said as he walked to the window. Sure enough, the rain had begun to slowly soften, the clouds still churning above. It would be some time before they could be sure the storm had passed. Even so, Spyro could feel the cool mist filter in from the outside through the windows. It felt nice against his scales, so refreshing.

"I would watch myself if I were you. If Sentinels are really in the city searching for something they'll stop at nothing to get it. They show no mercy."

"Yeah… we've seen…" Spyro said, turning slightly to face the Mole before looking out the window again.

They sure didn't show any mercy, that was for sure.

/Transitioning…/

[Done]

"Come on, this way!" Flame said, trotting along the shattered road. They had left the library some time ago, arriving back in the inner city just as the last batch of clouds had left the sky. The sun had lowered itself in the sky, ushering in the afternoon. A few more clouds were gathering but it looked like their chances of getting rained out had drastically lessened. They were almost back to their hideout, and finally able to safely drop off their newly acquired gems.

"Good my feet are killing me…" Spyro said with a chuckle while Flame gave a short laugh while happily trotting along. Sparx buzzed happily nearby, happy that his wings were dry while everything around them had been soaked in the rain.

"Flame, what's up?" Spyro asked, seeing his red friend halted up ahead. Flame lowered his stature, as if entering a stealth mode. Had he seen something?

"Hold up…" Flame said, raising his paw up. Sparx gave a frown, pressing himself low as Spyro crouched down himself, walking towards Flame slowly. Spyro reached the edge of the raised concrete that they rested on, slowly peeping his head over to take a look.

They were just along the edge to their courtyard, taking cover just at the street's edge. Inside they could see a few figures lumbering around. They all wore the unmistakable black armor of the Dark Master's Sentinels.

"What the hell… these guys are everywhere!" Flame said under his breath.

"Wait, wait, who's that they got there…?" Spyro asked as he leaned forward to get a better look.

There, in the middle of the Sentinels there were a few dragons, about their age. They were some of the orphans… Spyro could see pools of blood under some of them, and they weren't moving either.

One of them was moving… squirming by the looks of it.

"Where is he?! We know he hides here!" Spyro could hear the Sentinel shout. His voice echoed off the cracked walls, as well as the whimpers the youngling only managed to respond back.

"Useless!" The Sentinel shouted before placing his weapon against the dragon's chest. Spyro quickly ducked behind the rock, covering his eyes as he heard a CRACK resound through the area.

"Oh shit... shit!" Flame said while ducking himself.

"Damn it… they killed them… they killed them all…" Spyro said, clenching his eyes.

"No… no no… I only saw a few… I think… I think the others got away." Flame said, slowly lifting his head again. Spyro slowly opened his eyes, doing the same. Flame was right. There were only a few bodies there… but… they were dead. Those Sentinels had killed them. Those monsters had killed them.

"Spread out! I want him found." The Sentinel yelled.

"Flame, come on we've got to go." Spyro said, yanking on his shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah- yeah I'm coming." Flame said before stumbling off of the rock. They had to get out of there- and fast. Those Sentinels were still after them, but why? What the hell did Spyro do to these guys other than selling that damn gun? Did they think Spyro knew where the Forger was? Spyro didn't have a damn clue where he was!

They ran down the street, almost falling over broken rock as they tried to evade the Sentinels, turning as many corners and going through as many crowds of people as they could find. Everyone they passed looked concerned, all looking in the direction of where they were running. They all had heard the shots, and they all knew the Sentinels were over there. Many looked that way, waiting to see if the Sentinels came there next. Nobody wanted to be within their path, and Spyro and Flame desperately tried to ensure they stayed as far away as possible.

Sparx buzzed by them, a worried look on his face as he zipped between people, trying to keep up with the escaping dragons as they got farther and farther from the site. They finally rounded a corner, finding themselves back in one of the many markets of the inner city. Flame panted, almost collapsing onto the ground as he rested against a rock. Spyro found himself drawing heavy breaths, his head drooping low as his energy had left him all of a sudden. Sparx buzzed around their heads, making Spyro look up. He coughed a bit, trying to find words, but none came.

"You… you think they might have followed us?" Flame asked, looking towards his purple friend.

"I… I really hope not…" Spyro said, shaking his head. After their run in the previous day, Spyro hoped he never crossed paths with another Sentinel.

"What the hell are we going to do? We've got Sentinels combing the area looking for us!" Flame panted, looking desperately at Spyro for answers. Spyro didn't answer, instead just looking blankly at the ground in front of him, trying to find an answer to give back to Flame. They couldn't go back there, not with all the Sentinels. They were likely combing all their other hideouts if the others told them anything. Where the hell could they go?

"Spyro! Spyro!" Flame said, trying to snap him out of it. Spyro finally recoiled a bit, shaking his head slightly.

"I…. I don't know! We just need to disappear!" Spyro said, moving towards a random direction. Flame took in a heavy breath, trying to find the energy to follow his lead.

To be frankly honest, Spyro had no idea in the world where he was heading. They trotted down the streets, heading in any direction they could find. Hunter was right, they did need to lay low. They should have listened, and maybe they should have just stayed in the shack back there in the flooded city. No way they could make that walk again.

"Spyro, Spyro wait!" Flame said, pressing a paw on his friend's shoulder.

"What? What is it?"

"We could find an abandoned place in the surface city, we might be able to hide out there until they at least clear out of our home back there." Flame suggested. He was right, they could hide out somewhere in the surface city. So much was vacant, they might just be able to vanish into the empty buildings there.

"Right, let's go." Spyro said, nodding. The two dragons and lone dragonfly took off, dashing down the street and out of the inner city.

After a few minutes of running they slowed down to just a slow trot. The afternoon sun had set upon them and thankfully, they hadn't seen a single Sentinel the whole time. Spyro hoped they were too busy searching their home back there to come over here looking for them. Spyro desperately hoped that was the case.

The people in the streets thinned as they got deeper into the surface city. They were now reduced to small congregations of people, or groups moving between the different city sections. They were back at the old freeway that ran through the surface city, where several roads all ran alongside each other. This was the same path they had walked only days earlier on their way into the warehouses. Spyro had almost forgotten why they had even went that way in the first place, it seemed so distant since their run ins with the Sentinels.

As they walked further down the road, they heard sounds, growing louder and more frequent.

"What the hell's that?" Flame asked, tilting his head up.

There was a constant and repeating clacking noise that was echoing through the city's decrypt buildings. Spyro had heard a few of those earlier, but it had picked up now, and was getting much louder. It sounded fairly close as well.

"It sounds like gunfire."

"There a battle going on inside the city?" Flame asked, now recognizing the sound as well. Gun battles weren't that uncommon in the surface city, but this one sounded pretty intense. Multiple weapons seemed to be going off, and it only kept growing by the moment. It was coming from further down the road, near the collapsed freeway Spyro had first spotted the Sentinels at only days earlier. They trotted in that direction, drawn closer by the now constant barrage of gunfire.

They arrived at the collapsed overpass, looking beyond. They were at the warehouses again, well, another section of warehouses since they were completely separate from the ones they had made the discovery at the other day. They could see several figures lining the entrance to these warehouses, all perched along the fence and roadway that ran alongside the fencing. Different creatures ranging from different bi-pedal species to Sentinels themselves were firing onto the warehouses, riddling it with gunfire. Wait, Sentinels fighting alongside city residents? What in the hell was going on?

"Spyro, hey Spyro what're you doing?!" Flame said, now in a whisper as they were near Sentinels again. Spyro didn't answer, walking closer in a low crouch. He took cover behind a barrier, taking a closer peek at the gun battle just down the road. He could see they were deffinately firing at something in the parking lot in front of the warehouse, something taking cover behind the various ancient car chassis and overturned rubble.

Something… or someone…

"Spyro!" Flame said, running over to him as he tried to shake his friend.

"Flame… Flame look… look over there…" Spyro said, trying to see just what they were shooting at.

"I don't care what's going on, those are Sentinels! We need to leave!" He said, trying to break Spyro's gaze. Spyro focused hard, squinting as he drew in closer. He could see… several figures behind the cars in the lot, all returning fire at the various citizens and Sentinels. He could see their forms popping in and out of cover, and he could faintly hear their voices over the shouts and screams of the bi-pedals and Sentinels.

One of the cheetah bi-pedals firing at the group took a hit, a bullet passing straight through his chest and back, blowing a clear hole in him. The simple jacket the cheetah wore offered no protection as he fell off the piece of debris he had been using as cover. A nearby Sentinel kicked his body away as he stood upon the rubble, firing his rifle in the air to get the attention of onlookers.

"Anyone who helps us slay the Forgers gets to keep their weapons as trophies!" The Sentinel proclaimed, firing his weapon in the air. More bi-pedals ran over, all loaded out and ready for combat as they joined the fight, firing at the creatures.

Wait, wait, Forgers?! Spyro dashed over the cover, running over towards the wreckage of a car, desperate for a closer look.

"Spyro, what the hell happened to running?! Why are you going closer?!" Flame asked, going over to him.

"Flame look! Those are Forgers!" Spyro said, pointing at the creatures being attacked.

"Wait, what?!" Flame looked, wanting a closer look himself.

Spyro could see them now, behind the cars. Humans, Forgers, were there firing against the onslaught of creatures. A dragon flew in low, breathing a jet of flame at them, the humans returning the attack with a barrage of gunfire, blowing holes right through the dragon's lightly armored chest, sending him crashing to the ground in front of them. The humans were all using Forger weapons, their sleek black design reflecting in the sunlight in comparison to the dull looks of the weapons being sported by the other combatants.

Spyro could count about four of them all in total, all in a circle surrounding a doorway. Gunfire blasted away at the area around them, the humans only able to respond to the massive onslaught by popping in and out of cover, firing in short bursts or only one or two shots at a time. Many bi-pedals tried to rush them, but were cut down as a human would see this, and pop out of cover to fire into their unarmored chests. One Sentinel attempted to rush as well, but his armor was blasted off immediately, revealing his chest. The Sentinel stood no chance and was dropped like all the others as the humans worked as a coordinated team. Spyro watched as they popped out in twos, firing short bursts into targets in a selective manner, dropping them one by one. The attackers on the other hand fired in long, inaccurate bursts, sending rounds all over the place. That was also if they had an automatic weapon, which many of them did not. The Sentinels were lighting up the humans the most, their large weapons sending hundreds of rounds downrange in little time at all. They were like meat grinders, and would undoubtedly do the very same thing to flesh if their rounds made contact.

One bi-pedal ran up, holding a large tubed weapon. He chuckled as he raised it, pointing it right at the humans. One of them spotted this, firing several rounds right into the slim bear bi-pedal. The bear let out a sickening grunt as several rounds burst through his chest and back, causing him to topple over, but not before firing his weapon. A rocket came forth from the tube, streaking across the area until it impacted a nearby building, blowing out its second floor and sending a plume of smoke into the sky.

"This fight is getting out of hand! Spyro we need to move before we're caught in the crossfire!" Flame said to his purple friend who did not yield from his own position.

"This might be our only chance to meet a Forger!" Spyro said.

"Spyro! They're all about to get KILLED! Do you hear me? Killed!" He yelled.

Spyro did not listen, instead poking his head out for another view as more and more of the anthro creatures were dropping left and right as they were taken down. The Sentinels kept their distance, especially after one of their brethren was cut down trying to approach. One of them, a larger dragon growled in annoyance as his armor deflected rounds from the humans. He lifted his arm, ordering the anthros to rush them. The bi-pedals looked at him in confusion before the dragon roared, unleashing a wave of fire that consumed the nearest fighter there. The unfortunate wolf bi-pedal screamed in pure pain as fire engulfed him, his flailing body falling to the ground. The others yelled in panic, leaping over the fencing surrounding the lot and rushing the human's position.

There were yells, screams and curses as the humans saw their charge. The lot wasn't that large, and it would be seconds before they were consumed by the rush. Two of them made for a doorway, firing their weapons the whole time, nailing several anthros as they attempted to charge them head on, blood splattering the concrete where they once stood.

Rounds broke concrete and bounced every which way as the two humans neared the door, one moving to open it. The large dragon Sentinel let out a roar, flapping his massive wings before sailing into the air and firing a sphere of fire at the door. The human saw this, reaching for his weapon but was too late. The human was consumed, yelling in agony as he was burned alive in the fire, his body falling to the ground below.

Spyro could hear a yell of anguish as the other humans realized this, firing their weapons at the dragon Sentinel. Plates cracked and shattered from his armor, he flapping his wings to ascend and go over the building, avoiding their gunfire. The other humans moved towards the door, the fire having damaged it. One kicked in the door, but was nailed in the back by a precision shot. A hole was blasted in his back, sending a cloud of blood into the air before the human collapsed onto the ground. The others fired in retaliation, nailing the sniper.

The other two Sentinels rushed in now, blowing passed the cars and crates within the lot. The two humans remaining saw this, and opened fire. Bullets bounced from the armor as the Sentinel connected with one of the humans, knocking him into a wall. The human let out a scream as his body impacted, he falling onto the ground. The Sentinel picked up his foot, bringing it down right where Spyro could make out the human's head. He clenched his eyes, looking away for a second as the other human yelled, firing his weapon at almost point blank range into the Sentinel. The weapon was different from the others, firing a spray of pellets that blasted the chest plate right off from the Sentinel, even piercing through his chest. The Sentinel gasped for air as the impact had obviously pierced his lung, sending the Sentinel collapsing to the ground. The second Sentinel came in now, an anthro gargoyle. The gargoyle let out a roar as he grabbed the human, disarming him of his weapon. The gargoyle stood almost twice as tall as the forger, the human reaching for a side arm and firing it right into the Sentinel's face. The bullets pinged off his helmet but one contacted with the side of his neck, causing him to drop the human. He rolled on the ground before quickly getting up and running into the now open door, disappearing into the blackness.

The gargoyle panted, clenching his neck while barking orders to the remaining bi-pedals who were already busy scouring the bodies of the other humans. They didn't listen, instead grabbing the forger weapons and running off. Angered, the gargoyle grabbed his weapon, spraying it into the nearest group of anthros. The bullets shredded them, shredded them all. The others ran in fear, ducking and running for cover as the injured Sentinel lumbered into the black doorway.

"Holy shit… holy shit!" Flame said, having watched the entire altercation. Spyro only watched in amazement, having watched the only creatures he had ever wanted to meet die in front of him. One had gotten away though… one… and only one.

Spyro immediately leapt over the barrier, going straight for the warehouse.

"Spyro! Spyro where're going?! Spyro!" Flame yelled, watching his friend dart for the warehouse. Flame let out a panicked yelp before following him, Sparx doing the same with a look of dread on his face.

Spyro raced forward, leaping over the fence, broken concrete and fallen creatures who littered the lot. He ran passed the humans, seeing their dead bodies, seeing them up close for the first time. Their bodies were mangled and ravaged, their forms not even worthy of the designation "forger" anymore. It was a sad sight to behold…

Nevertheless he charged on, going passed the doorway and into the dark hallway beyond.

Inside he saw little, only a few beams of light coming from the cracked ceiling. He heard footsteps beyond, in the darkness. He ran towards them, seeing blood covering the floor and a doorway just beyond. He slowly approached the doorway, hearing sounds behind it. A lout BANG resonated through the warehouse, making Spyro rush to the door, opening it.

Light momentarily blinded young Spyro as he entered the room. When the light faded, he could see the large room, only illuminated by the light coming from several windows lining the upper parts of the walls. Birds were flying away from the loud bang Spyro had heard only moments before, their flapping wings resonating through the large room as they flew away. Water dripped from a hole in the roof, dripping down in a slow steady stream from the earlier rain storm. Walking forward more, Spyro could see two figures lying on the floor near the center of the room, almost where the light from the hole in the ceiling met the floor.

One of the figures was the gargoyle from before, sprawled out in a puddle of its own blood. Just beyond the gargoyle lay the human from before as well, he laying on his back as blood oozed from a hole in the creature's chest.

Walking towards it, Spyro could finally get a better look at these creatures.

The human had covered himself in usual attire, a simple shirt, pants but with a vest with pouches strapped onto his upper half. He wore a cap and sunglasses obscuring his eyes. Blood oozed from his mouth, and the fact that his chest wasn't rising and falling from breath only indicated one fact to young Spyro. This human was dead, just like all the rest.

In his hands, Spyro could see the handgun from earlier, the human's finger still on the trigger. Undoubtedly he and the Sentinel engaged in one last fight to the death, with no winners. Spyro walked closer to the creature, looking at his pale pink, hairless skin. It was so odd, seeing it up close like this. He had seen… pictures before but nothing like this. How many of them were there…? Was it just this little group? Were these… the last of the forgers? Spyro felt a deep pang of sorrow as he stood over the perished human, having so many questions he had wanted to ask the creature.

Now, he could only look at its corpse in wonder. Damn these Sentinels…

A soft click resonated through the room, catching Spyro's attention.

Spyro lifted his head, looking upwards to a pile of rubble that lay before him. There, stood atop the pile of rubble stood a human looking down at him. Spyro could see he was wearing an attire not unlike the one from his fallen friend. He wore cargo pants along with a jacket with a hood. A combat vest of some kind covered his chest, going over the jacket as it looked like forger designed armor. He could see gear covering the vest, ranging from pouches to a canteen and even a small metallic brick with speakers, almost like a "radio" Spyro had seen before. In the human's hand he carried a sidearm, much like the one the human below him was holding, only this one was pointed squarely at Spyro, the barrel of the weapon gleaming in the sunlight.

Spyro stood there, looking up at the human with a look of astonishment, with a bit of nervous and fear mixed in as he stared at the barrel of the weapon, the human not changing stance as he stared down Spyro as well.

None of them moved, both locked forever in this moment. More birds flew away outside, their wings flapping as they flew by the windows. Their bodies cast shadows that went into the room, gliding over Spyro's smooth scales as he drew in sharp breaths, still staring at that handgun.

The human didn't move, his breath also high as he stared at the dragon.

What… should he do? Spyro didn't know if he should move, speak or just continue to stare. The human had him dead to rights, his hand gun pointed right at his face. One wrong move, and Spyro would be dead. He wanted to say something, say that he didn't do any of this. He wanted to badly to say something… yet his mouth didn't move an inch.

The sound of the door flinging open behind Spyro caught his attention, forcing him to turn his head immediately.

Flame raced in, grunting as he skidded to a stop right beside Spyro.

"Spyro! There you are! I was looking for… oh…" Suddenly Flame spotted the human Spyro had been looking at this whole time, the human having not moved an inch during the whole ordeal.

"What… now?" Flame asked silently.

"Shut up… just shut up…" Spyro whispered. The human looked at both of them, eyeing them up and down as he still had his weapon trained onto Spyro.

This was followed by another period of silence, the human shifting slightly, as if to start moving backwards as Spyro could hear a gulp from Flame.

Sparx buzzed by Spyro's head suddenly, flying through a hole in one of the windows. Spyro grunted, watching Sparx but not wanting to take his eyes off of the human.

"What… what is it Sparx? Sparx?" Spyro asked, not moving his head but making his eyes trade between his dragonfly companion and the human before him.

Without warning, a loud crashing sound resonated through the room as one of the glass windows burst inward towards them. A large figure poured through the hole, the dragon Sentinel from before. It roared out as it landed nearby, flexing his powerful muscles to intimidate the group. Flame let out a yell as Spyro leapt back a few feet, readying himself.

To his side, Spyro heard the human's weapon go off immediately, he having spun himself around to engage the dragon. The small handgun did little against the Sentinel's armor, the bullets pinging off and punching up bits of concrete everywhere. The dragon roared and charged the human. He leaped up over the rubble, threatening to overtake the human who dove to the side, skidding down the rubble and towards a door in the corner of the room.

The dragon ignored Spyro and Flame, instead going straight for the human as he retreated down the hall. The dragon burst into the doorway, blowing the door off its hinges as he was too large to enter.

"Come on!" Spyro yelled, giving chase.

"What?! Again?! He pulled a gun on you Spyro!" Flame yelled as he was once again forced to chase his friend.

Spyro raced right behind the large anthro dragon as he blasted through yet another doorway at the end of the hall. They were in another warehouse, with more crates and machinery accompanying it. The human had moved behind a large container, firing his rifle at the dragon who charged him. The rifle's rounds pierced the dragon's armor, forcing him to leap to cover. The dragon moved around a crate, slowly stalking the human who moved into the open, keeping his rifle aimed at the crate the dragon was hiding behind. The dragon sneered before pushing hard on the crate, shoving it so it would collide with the human. The human saw this, leaping to the side to avoid the large crate. The dragon took this chance, leaping onto it and leaping forward again towards the human. The human rolled to a stop, pulling his rifle and firing it from his prone position. The weapon gave out a loud TAT, TAT, TAT, as it fired off several rounds in succession. Bullets shattered the Sentinel's chest armor, sending plates of metal and crystal flying across the floor, a few piercing through the dragon's chest. However, this Sentinel was not yielded by this, he instead swiping at the human. The human's weapon ran out of ammo, he rolling to avoid the impact.

The human came out of the roll, quickly reaching for his pistol which he fired again at the dragon. The dragon ignored it, running forward and striking the human with a hard swipe, sending him several feet to the ground, skidding. His weapon flew from his hand, skidding on the floor nearby.

"No!" Spyro yelled, leaping forward now. He opened his muzzle, unleashing a wave of fire onto the Sentinel. The Sentinel growled, stopping as he felt the flames but they did nothing to the dragon. He turned, facing Spyro.

"You little pe-" The dragon stopped mid-sentence as he saw Spyro, seeing his scales for the first time.

"Well, well… if it isn't the purple dragon I've heard about… Well, it must be my lucky day! I'll bag BOTH prizes for our master… he will be so pleased…" The dragon sneered wide, flexing his claws. Spyro breathed in deep, grunting at his aggressor with a determined look.

He answered the dragon's intimidating stance with a switch of tactics. He opened his muzzle, instead using his new earth breath against his opponent, sending shockwaves of energy that slammed hard into the Sentinel. His eyes went wide as he flew back, the force shattering what chest armor he had remaining.

Flame growled, leaping forward too as he sent several fireballs at the dragon. The balls impacted, scorching his scales but doing little as the Sentinel growled, getting up.

"I only need the purple one… I can kill you…" He growled, leaping forward to Flame. Flame leaped to the side, rolling as the dragon skidded to a stop, spinning around to meet them. Spyro had flown up to the dragon by now and brought his claws down, scratching his face.

The Sentinel growled before swiping at Spyro, hitting him in the head and knocking him down. He moved to attack Spyro while he was on the ground but was knocked onto his stomach by Flame who slammed into his back with his horns. Spyro took this chance, leaping up and coming down hard on the Sentinel's head while he was down. The Sentinel roared before standing up quickly, punching Spyro in the gut while he hovered in front of him. Spyro let out a grunt, flying back a foot before firing a burst of earth energy at the Sentinel. The energy knocked the Sentinel back a few feet before he roared in pain from Flame's fire attack. He reached behind him, grabbing Flame and throwing him at Spyro. The two dragons hit hard, both slamming into the floor.

"You little bastards are proving to be more trouble than your worth!" The dragon yelled, flexing his claws. He walked towards the two dragons slowly, the light reflecting from his talons.

He never made it more than a few feet as the human had gotten up by now and had collided hard with the Sentinel, sending him crashing to the floor. The Sentinel roared out, looking up as the human stood on top of him, his rifle pointed right at his face. The dragon growled, about to move but the human acted first, his rifle sounding off as he put several rounds into the dragon's face. The dragon's body gave a few spasms as the bullets hit before going limp.

Blood oozed from the dragon's body, his hands going limp, the sounds of the spent rifle casings hitting the floor echoing through the room.

The Sentinel was dead.

"Holy crap… that was… pretty intense…" Flame said, getting up slowly, Spyro doing the same. The human had gotten off the Sentinel by now, but was still pointing his weapon at the pair as he panted hard, blood covering parts of his body.

"Hey… we just helped you kick that guy's ass! Could you… stop pointing that thing at us?!" Flame asked, being blunt as Spyro just looked at him. The human didn't respond, instead just looking at them, as he breathed hard.

"Well?" Flame asked again.

"You've got a lot of nerve, asking me to lower my weapon against two dragons." The human said, finally speaking to them. Flame just let out a grunt, shaking his head. Spyro said nothing, just looking at him.

"Look! We're not loved by those guys either, we're hated! They hate us, they hate you… you see the connection?"

The human didn't say anything.

"Look, we're not all like these guys. We're running from them too, so if you could just lower that thing we could-"

The sounds of footsteps in the adjacent warehouse demanded their attention, shouts and yells accompanying them as it sounded like more Sentinels were coming. Sparx buzzed back into the room, shaking his head at the sounds with a worried look. He only confirmed their suspicions.

"There're more coming, we have to move." Spyro said, now speaking to the human.

"Fine, this way." He said before lowering his rifle, going to retrieve his side arm which was a few feet away. He dashed towards a panel in the floor, grabbing it and pulling it aside. He leapt down into a hole underneath, Spyro, Flame and Sparx going down into the hole. The human waited for them to enter before reaching up, grabbing the panel and setting it back in place. The tunnel went black save for Sparx until the human produced a light of his own. He ran down the hallway just as the Sentinels arrived in the room above them to investigate.

Spryo, Flame and Sparx all followed, the sounds of the Sentinels fading away as they marched behind the lone forger.

They arrived in at the end of the tunnel, which lead into a small concrete room. The room looked to be underground, and had several tunnels dug out going in different directions. There were beds in the room, along with several appliances and different boxes of supplies. When the group entered, the human closed the door behind them, the large makeshift iron door clicking shut.

Flame breathed in deep, feeling safer already as he relaxed himself. Spyro did the same, but kept his guard up while looking around the room. Sparx was long gone, already buzzing around the different items in the room. The human walked towards a door on the other end, slowly opening it.

"You can leave that way. It should take you to the other side. We never met." The human said lowly, offering his hand towards the door.

"Wait, I don't want to leave. I have so many questions to ask you." Spyro said, walking towards the human. He lifted his hand, stopping Spyro in his tracks.

"Look, no offense but I'm not in any mood to talk to a dragon. Now if you don't mind I just saw all my friends die in front of me to your buddies. Could you leave now?"

Spyro sat down in front of the human, looking at him.

"I'm not leaving until I ask my questions." Spyro said. Flame shook his head, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"Oh for God's sake… Look, I don't care what questions you have I'm not answering any of them for a dragon- end of story now scram!" He said, rubbing his forehead in frustration.

"We're not like them, you know." Spyro said softly.

"Ok, so you're not like the Sentinels. We also had every other damned creature in this city out to get us. Why in the hell should I give you ten seconds of my time?" The human grunted in annoyance, walking over towards one of the cots, setting his backpack down.

"Because we can help you."

"Oh that's rich. A dragon, willing to help a human." The human sat down on the cot, taking off his vest and jacket setting it on his cot. Spyro watched him take off his combat armor, and it suddenly donned on Spyro. None of the other humans he had seen that day- including the ones outside the warehouse- had been wearing armor. Why was that? Why was he the only one to be wearing armor of any kind?

"We helped you kill that Sentinel, isn't that a start?" Flame asked, shaking his head.

"You mean I killed that Sentinel. You two just got in the way."

"Dude we totally saved your ass! Admit it!" Flame yelled at him. The human just scowled at him.

"I want to help you. I really do." Spyro said again, walking closer to him.

"Why? Why do you want to help me? What do you want, why can't you just leave me alone?"

"Because, ever since I was young I read about you, we've lived in your people's ruins, I've always wanted to meet one of you and now you're here. I have so much to ask you…"

"Then ask someone else. Let them tell you our story."

"I want to help you, help you get out of here."

"I'm not stupid, what do you want in return? Your kind doesn't just give out help."

"I just want to help the only human I've ever met…"

"Well you can start, by leaving. Leave me be, your kind has done enough damage to me and my cause already."

"Cause, what're you doing?"

There was a banging sound behind them, the human turning to see Sparx nibbling on something inside a crate against the wall.

"Hey get out of there! Don't touch that!" The human said, turning towards the dragonfly. Sparx shot up, giving an innocent look before buzzing towards another box to inspect it.

"Tell your dragonfly buddy there to keep his… self away from my stuff." The human said, turning back towards Spyro. Spyro just shook his head.

"You mentioned a cause, what is it you're trying to do?" He asked instead.

"You know what, no, I'm not having this conversation with dragons." He stood up, shaking his head while walking towards a nearby box, looking through it. Spyro caught a glimpse of something hanging from his neck, an amulet of some kind. He had his pack in hand, rummaging through it before cursing, looking up at the ceiling.

"What is it?" Spyro asked, trying to see what he was angry about now. The human turned, looking at him before tossing his pack on the floor, a bent metal part skidding out.

"Thanks to you and your friends, that got damaged in the fighting. It's the only thing that made us go to that damned warehouse on the other side of town. It's the only damn thing that got them all killed by those Sentinels. Now, I can't even use it."

Spyro looked at the metal object. It was a part, to something obviously. It was a piece of machinery that Spyro didn't recognize, but it was bent and twisted in a shape that looked completely unusable.

"We could… help you find a new one." Spyro said, walking towards it more.

"Yeah I bet you could." The human said sarcastically.

"We're scavengers you know, we hunt junk like this all the time." Flame said, looking at it.

"You know, it's fine I'll get it myself. You two can just leave the way you came."

"You're all by yourself now in a city with Sentinels. If we work together, we could find this part for you. What is it you need it for?" Spyro asked. The human didn't respond, instead going to sit on his cot and look at the other empty cots that sat before him. He ran a hand through his hair before sighing sadly, turning to them.

"Why are you trying to help me?"

"I told you already, you're the first human I've ever met. I just want to help you, help you in whatever it is you're trying to do." Spyro replied, smiling softly. The human looked at him for a second before standing up, shaking his head.

"Fine, follow me." He said softly, walking towards one of the tunnels. Spyro and Flame both followed, Sparx still busy looking all over the room to care where they went.

They walked down the tunnel before reaching its end, a ladder sitting before them. The human climbed up, pushing aside a panel much like in the warehouse they had left earlier. They found themselves in another warehouse, yet this one seeming familiar to them. In the middle of the room they saw why this warehouse was so familiar. There, in the middle of the warehouse was the vehicle from before, sitting in front of them. They found it on the same day they ran in with those Sentinels, and when this whole mess started.

It looked more finished from before, with panels being attached where there had been none the first time they had found it.

"This is a V-22 Osprey. We had been repairing it so we could leave this place. That part was the last thing we needed to fix it. Without that part, I can't get this to fly."

"Hey I know this thing! It's where we found that box, right Spyro?" Flame commented, turning to his friend. Spyro nodded, looking at the aircraft.

"Yeah it is. That was a really lucky find…" Spyro commented back before silencing himself, looking towards the human who had turned to them.  
"Wait, so it was you who took one of our stash boxes! You also took Sam's lucky pistol!"

"Uh… we uh…" The two dragons just looked around nervously, Flame even rubbing the back of his neck.

"So uh… this thing can fly?" Spyro asked, trying so quickly to change the subject.

"Yes, it can fly. Without that part though, it's staying here in this hanger." The human said, walking into the bay of the aircraft while shaking his head, looking annoyed.

"Why you trying to leave the city?" Flame asked, tilting his head.

"Easy, this place sucks. Also I'm going somewhere and I need this aircraft to take me there."

"Going where?" Spyro asked.

"Now that, is a closely guarded secret." The human said with a sort of smile, grabbing a toolbox from the front of the aircraft, bringing it towards the back." Spyro and Flame just looked at each other.

"You know where we could find that part?" Spyro asked, looking at the human.

"We only knew of two places, at the other warehouses and we heard of someone selling it in the city center. We thought it'd be easier to retrieve the other one."

"Good call… you probably wouldn't last in the city center." Flame said, shaking his head.

"We could... try to hunt down that one. We'd blend in better there." Spyro said.

"Be my guest, I'm not going near there for a while. Not without backup." The human said, shaking his head.

"So… we all going there?" Flame asked.

"No, I'll go. Go to our hideout and retrieve our other gear. We could use the extra stuff." Spyro said.

"You sure you want to go alone?" Flame asked.

"I'm positive. If we both move we can get it done faster, plus it'll make us harder to track by those damned Sentinels." Spyro said, Flame nodding in response.

"It's settled, we'll go in the morning." Flame said with a smile.

"So… you uh… you got a name?" Spyro asked, turning to the human.

"You first." He said, moving another box inside the aircraft.

"Alright, I'm Spyro, nice to meet you!"

"I'm Flame."

The human looked at them both for a bit before shaking his head.

"The name's Jericho."

End of Chapter 03

A/N: Hey guys, NewLegend1 here. Sorry for no update in a while, been on a bit of a low period for creative energy (I blame vidja games) Finally just gave himself a good kick over the passed few days to actually type this thing out and I got about 80% of it written in like 2 good sit downs XD This was a longer chapter, but I felt it all fell in just right. I am hooooooooooooping chapter 4 does NOT take this long. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this, and I welcome all of your reviews, I read and take them all very seriously ^w^ Until next time guys.


	4. Merchandise

Chapter 04: Merchandise

October 26, 10:33 AM

The wind was calm, flowing softly through the streets, kicking up a few papers. Spyro walked, watching the small rotten papers as they slowly drifted across the cracked pavement before coming to a rest nearby. Looking up, he saw the four main skyscrapers of his home city, towering high above him, almost engulfing him as they were so close to him now.

He was in the city's center, the heart of the city itself. It was the heart of the city's commerce, and it served as the heart of the city's greed and corruption. Gangs and crime lords controlled this part of the city, and they had a… hand in the city's affairs, whatever they might be. It made no difference to Spyro, since their reach didn't make it very far from the city's center itself. The other sections remained independent of them, and ruled themselves. Here, the crime lords were boss. In fact, calling them crime lords wasn't even correct. They were the law there, and nobody questioned them. Under their rule, there weren't any crimes. To go against them, that is the true crime.

The city center was built around a large hole in the ground, created long ago either during, before or after the war that destroyed the humans. Spyro had never seen it before, only heard about it. It was there, at the bottom of that hole where the central markets lay. All commerce passing through this area were directed through here, and Spyro knew if he was going to find that part, it was going to be there in the heart of the city. Getting there, that was going to be a challenge. Well, getting there intact anyway. This part of the city was highly dangerous to those who weren't of status or in the know within the ranks of these lords.

Spyro was just a small dragon wandering in this section, and the fact he was carrying a small sum of gems would only make him more of a target…

He had to take care now, and not call much attention to himself.

His best bet was just to… blend in. As long as he didn't do anything to stick out, he'd be just fine. Thinking about it, he was sure none of these thugs were as tough as a Sentinel. Now those guys he was scared of… Those guys meant business. These guys were just looking for a quick buck.

Walking further in, he saw as the buildings were growing larger all around him. He was entering this section through a series of alleys, built in-between the buildings since most of the buildings here were also new additions, much like in the inner city. Whatever happened in this city damaged this area the most, and left a lot of the smaller buildings in absolute ruin. Only the four central towers remained standing above the rest, and even then one of the towers had half collapsed into another one, leaning forever into the second structure. Most the buildings here were on the ruins of the old buildings, and as Spyro walked through the city he could see several different creatures and their designs. This small alleyway was packed, not unlike the ones from the inner city. Different creatures walked to and from the city's center, just as young Spyro was. He could see all the various species as they walked passed him, bi-pedal cheetahs, wolves, different avians, even a few anthro and feral dragons passed by him occasionally.

It was much like the inner city, just… with more people hiding in the shadows.

The area here was dense, with many different alleyways running in-between the buildings, allowing for massive foot traffic to move around the base of one of the main towers that were still standing.

All around him people walked, it was hard to really see where he was going. Having never been to this district, Spyro would have to find a way to find out where he was… Or else he'd be wandering in circles the whole time.

Taking a chance he moved towards one of the smaller alleyways that branched off to another road that looked off the beaten path. There, it was much, much less populated and Spyro could see signs on the other road pointing towards the main markets.

Bingo! That's where he wanted to go!

He trotted through the alleyway until he met its end, turning to now head down the road. He was on an older road, one built by the forgers for their vehicles. This one was narrow, and most of the old debris had been cleared away long ago, making way for lanes of travel for pedestrians. At the end of the road he could see the base of one of the other towers, and a sharp drop somewhere in front of it. That must be the inner markets! Whew, he was almost there. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Spyro heard a voice, a female voice at that coming from nearby.

"Don't be so alarmed, I mean no ill intent. Besides, where are you going?" A second voice said, sounding male. They were coming down the alleyway, which ran alongside one of the taller buildings in the area. What was going on inside this alley? Spyro slowly walked down towards the source, listening into the two individuals as they spoke to one another.

"Where do you think? I'm leaving, my business is done in this city."

"Is that what you think?"

"I know it is. Now get away from me."

"Well so much for gratitude, after I housed you all this time during your stay…"

"Thank you, now get away, I'm leaving this city."

"Oh, I don't think so. I believe you may be mistaken there my dear."

"What the hell are you talking about, get away from me!"

What was going on down there? It sounded like something was starting to heat up…

Curious, Spyro slowly walked down the alleyway, careful to not make much noise as he slowly approached the area where the voices were originating from. These alleyways were so mazelike… and because of the nature of the buildings they were going in every which direction.

Moving against the wall, he slowly peered over the side, seeing a large gorilla anthro talking to a black dragoness, who was about his size and probably age.

"You're not going anywhere little lady, you're staying here…"

"Like hell I am! Who do you think you are?"

"Who do I think I am? I know who I am, you need to learn your place."

"I know my place, and it isn't here!"

"Not anymore young one. Your place is here, with me. You are signed merchandise."

"Get away from me! I don't care who you are!" She said in response, looking more tense. Looking at her closely, Spyro could see her intricate black scale pattern and red underbelly. Her scales reflected in the sunlight, looking more purple when hit by the light. She had bracelets on her fore-legs and hind legs, tail and even neck. Green eyes looked up at the gorilla with both anger and a bit of fear. The gorilla walked closer to her.

"What would your boss think if he found out you were disobeying him?"

"My boss would never agree to any of this…" She gritted her teeth, backing away as he walked in a circle around her slowly.

"Oh I see. You don't know yet. Oh well, it doesn't matter anymore because you belong here, with me."

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about, get away…"

"Don't worry, I'll be gentle."

"I said get away!" She leapt forward, baring her claws. He only smirked, grabbing her arm and throwing her onto the ground. She grunted, skidding for a few feet before getting up.

"Oh I love it when they fight…" He said with a chuckle, walking over and stepping on her back.

"Get off!" She yelled.

"Oh quiet, I wouldn't want anyone to hear you scream… only I want to hear that." He grabbed her, lifting her up. She clawed at his face when her fore-leg became free, making him let out a sharp groan.

"You bitch!" He yelled, dropping her.

"That's what you get!" She yelled in response. He only chuckled before pulling his fist back and delivering a blow to her head, knocking her back several feet. She slammed into a trash container, her body remaining still as paper covered her body. The gorilla rubbed his wounds before chuckling again.

"Well isn't she a fighter…" He walked back over to her.

Spyro grunted, having watched the entire scene, not knowing whether to get involved or not. As he walked closer to her, he knew he had to act now. If not, who knows what the sick freak was going to do to her!

Leaping forward Spyro flapped his wings, becoming airborne. He bared his claws, landing on the gorilla's back. He grunted, turning to see Spyro who growled at him.

"Leave her alone!" Spyro shouted.

"What're you, her boyfriend?! Get off!" He grabbed Spyro throwing him off of his back and onto the ground. Spyro skid for a few feet before rolling over, gritting his teeth.

"Alright, come at me then…" The gorilla said, raising his fists.

Spyro leaped forward, flapping his wings to get air. The gorilla punched, his powerful fist soaring forwards toward Spyro. Spyro flapped his wings, gaining more air to avoid his punch. The larger, lumbering ape was not able to adjust, Spyro able to come down hard on him, biting his neck. He shouted out, flailing his arms as Spyro used his weight to draw him back. The gorilla finally got a grasp on Spyro, trying to yank him off. Spyro felt this, using his hind-leg to scratch at the gorilla's arm, causing him to yell, his arm losing its grip.

Spyro used this opportunity to push his weight further onto the gorilla, bringing his legs so they rested on his chest and he pushed hard, shoving the gorilla onto his back. Spyro flapped his wings above him, spouts of flame coming from his muzzle as he looked down at the gorilla.

"You leave her alone…" Spyro said, the gorilla rubbing his neck and looking up at him with hate.

"Not a chance, I've waited a long, long time for this and you won't mess this up for me…" The gorilla stood up, charging Spyro again. Spyro flapped his wings, getting above him, unleashing a jet of flames at the gorilla. The gorilla leapt to the side, trying to avoid the fire. Spyro sailed in hard, shoving against him into the wall. The gorilla growled before grabbing Spyro's neck, pulling him up and off. The gorilla brought the full force of his hands down, clenching tight on young Spyro's neck. Spyro gasped, clawing at the gorilla's arms, trying to get him to let go. The gorilla only tightened his grip, and Spyro out of panic brought his hind-paws onto the gorilla's chest and started a scraping motion, his claws digging into the gorilla's bare chest. The gorilla let out a sharp yell of pain, now releasing Spyro as blood dripped from the young dragon's claws.

Spyro came crashing to the ground, rolling over as he grasped his neck, taking in deep breaths.

The gorilla slowly pushed himself off the wall, blood dripping from his wounds. He panted hard, but did not look like he was ready to give up. Spyro let out a growl before charging the gorilla. The gorilla readied his fists, grabbing Spyro by the horns as soon as he got the chance. Spyro yanked hard, but he wouldn't let go. Spyro pushed hard however, shoving him back into the wall. The gorilla only used this chance to bring his fists down onto his back, the impacts proving brutal against Spyro.

In an act of desperation, Spyro pressed his muzzle against the chest of the gorilla before letting lose a shot of earth energy, the shotgun-like blast sending the gorilla crashing through the wall and into the dark room beyond. He skid for a few feet before coming to a rest beside the fallen concrete. The gorilla moaned for a bit before his head went limp against the rocks.

His chest was still rising and falling, the gorilla was only knocked out.

Panting, Spyro fell backwards trying to catch his breath. He brought a paw up, rubbing his neck softly before coughing. Turning slightly, he looked at the dragoness who was now lying on her back, her head pointed up at the sky. He got up slowly, walking over towards her to see if she was alright.

Her chest rose and fell softly, indicating she was only knocked out. That's good... Least Spyro wasn't too late. He had to at least wake her up, so she could get away from this asshole…

He reached over, grasping at her shoulder as he slowly moved her body.

"Hey, hey come on now, you have to get up." Spyro said softly, shaking her more.

She let out a soft moan, her body starting to move as she was now coming to. Her paw came to her head before her eyes opened, she looking up at him as he shook her again.

"Hey, hey you alright?" Spyro asked, seeing her eyes moving all over the place. She looked as if she was in a daze, delirious.

"Orrick…? Is that… you…?" She asked softly, still looking up with drooped eyes. Huh? Who the hell was Orrick?

"No, no, listen you-"

"I… I haven't seen you for a long time… what're you doing here?" She asked, still looking to be in a delirious state.

"No I'm not Orrick, my name is Spyro! Come on you have to move." He said, backing up slightly. Her eyes went wide before she shook herself back to reality, getting up quickly.

"Wow, who the hell are you?! What's going on?!" She asked, backing against the wall. Spyro moved back, raising his paws a bit defensively.

"You were attacked by that guy, I helped you. You've got to get out of here before he gets back up." Spyro explained. The dragoness rubbed her head before moving towards the broken wall, seeing the fallen gorilla just beyond.

"Oh no… not good… not good at all…" She said, shaking her head.

"What's the matter? Come on, you've got to get out of here!" Spyro said, trying to get her attention.

"Do you know who that guy is? He'll be after you, he'll be after me!" She said, looking a little more panicked.

"No… who is that guy?"

"Come on, we've got to go!" She shouted, grabbing Spyro's arm and darting from the alleyway. She pulled Spyro into another alleyway, looking back to check if they were being followed.

"Whoa, whoa!" Spyro said, she still pulling him with her.

"You knocked that guy out?" She asked, still looking behind her.

"Yeah… I heard something going on over here so I checked it out." He said, stopping to turn himself. She turned towards him, a look of panic still on her face before she collected herself, sighing.

"Thanks… That pig almost got me…" She said lowly before turning again, walking down the alleyway.

"Who was that guy?"

"What're you, like new here?" She asked, looking at him in disbelief.

"No… I'm from the inner city, we don't come to the city center." Spyro explained. She just shook her head.

"It doesn't matter, come on." She said, going forward. Spyro looked at her, still confused.

"Where are we going?" He asked.

"Away from here. His friends'll be here soon, and we don't want to stick around." She said, leaving the alleyway and returning to the streets.

"Who are you?" Spyro asked, trying to catch up with her. She turned, looking at both sides to inspect the people walking down the street. She turned to look at him for a few seconds, looking him over.

"The name's Cynder. We better move away from here." She said, walking down the street.

"Cynder… wait, hey, wait up!" He said, not wanting to get left behind as she continued onward.

"Well keep up!" She said, turning back to him with a slight smirk. They continued walking until they reached a small plaza, an old forger restaurant sitting near the corner, dominating this area. Different creatures including a few dragons sat in an outdoor area to the restaurant, all chatting amongst themselves and eating. Many of them looked… less than reputable.

She walked towards the end of the plaza before stopping, looking around her again. That small trip through the alleyways had gotten Spyro all turned around, and he had no idea where he even was.

"Alright, I think we lost them."

"Who is, 'them'?" Spyro asked.

"Just a few assholes I've had to do business with. Don't think I'll be welcomed back though…" She said, shaking her head. Spyro raised an eyebrow.

"You work for somebody?" He asked her.

"Yeah, we're a group west of here. My boss sent me here to help make an agreement with these guys. That asshole back there wanted to get a little too personal for my tastes." She explained.

"You're a little young to be traveling by yourself." Spyro commented.

"What about you? You seem to be young to be wandering the streets of the city center." She said with a smirk. Spyro returned it, shaking his head.

"I didn't want to come here, I'm looking for something."

"Looking for what?" She asked, curious herself.

"A part. A… friend of mine needs it for a project. We think the only one is down here in the city center."

"What kind of part? Maybe I can help."

"You want to help?"

"Well… you saved me from being raped, so I think you've earned it." She said with a smile. Spyro smiled himself before turning to his sack, opening the flap and retrieving the damaged part. He held it up awkwardly, still lacking any thumbs.

"I need… a replacement to this." He said.

"Oh. I've seen one of those before… Yeah I know someone who sells it!"

"You do? Can you show me?" He asked.

"Sure! As long as you're paying for it though…" She said, quickly changing her tone. Spyro shook his head.

"Of course I am." She shook hers before turning, looking around to orient herself.

"Alright then it's this way. Try to keep up!" She said. Spyro smirked before following behind her. They walked for several minutes, navigating the various streets and alleys in an attempt to find the inner markets. How could they have gotten so lost, Spyro was JUST facing it earlier!

Finally they arrived at a street going towards the inner markets, it dumping off into the massive hole that the markets rested inside of. They walked along its edge, following the stream of foot traffic that also moved towards its edge, only to move towards stairs that had been built into the side of the massive hole, following it all the way down towards it base. Spyro walked towards the edge of the road, peering down to get a look himself.

The walls of the massive hole were lined with large pieces of machinery and metallic walls. They had all turned orange from rust, some parts having long ago collapsed as well. It looked as if the area had at one time been sealed beneath the streets here, only to have the roof collapse in, revealing this place to the world. At the base of the hole Spyro could see more machinery, all hooking up to a central point at the bottom, a large cylindrical device. All around there were tents and different huts set up, all various merchants and sellers that made up the marketplace. All along the walls Spyro could see several floors that descended down, as if the entire area was hollowed out. He could see inside each of the floors, all of them exposed to the central area, revealing all of the many tents and shacks set up by other merchants. The entire place was an enormous marketplace. Pipes moved in every direction from the central cylinder, moving into the walls or running up them. Spyro wondered, what was the point of this massive room, and why had it been sealed beneath the city long ago, only to have been revealed by the roof's collapse? What secrets had the forgers been hiding down there?

"Quite a sight, isn't it?" Cynder asked, seeing Spyro looking down.

"Yeah, it is. I've never been to the city center's markets before."

"This place has got one of the biggest markets for miles, here, in the inner city and even that flooded city beyond. I've never been to those though, only to the city center ones." She explained.

"Where are you from originally?" Spyro asked.

"Out west, my… group's got control of a couple of cities. I grew up there and decided I wanted to see a bit more of the world so they sent me east." She said, still looking down.

"What're your cities like?" Spyro asked.

"A lot cleaner then these, I'll say that. We've really started to pick up the pieces that were left everywhere by those forgers, and now we're making a true name for ourselves."

"Why'd they send you to deal with these guys though?"

"Well… I'm not really the one dealing with them. Vivex, my mentor really deals with them… I just help out, you know."

"Where is he that he isn't helping you out of all this?" Spyro said, walking away from the edge now.

"He already left you see. I was just wrapping things up for him."

"I see, well thankfully you're alright now."

"Thanks. What about you? Is this your hometown?"

"Yeah, I grew up here. I've never really left this place, it's way too massive to explore on its own."

"Ever think about traveling?"

"I've… thought about it. I've wanted to see what the rest of the world is like. Though I've never really gotten the chance."

She looked at him for a moment before smirking and turning and undoing her wings to glide down.

"Well, we've got to get your friend that part, so let's go." She said, walking towards the edge. Spyro smiled himself, nodding as he followed her.

Oh the joys of being a dragon… Spyro leapt out with her and flapped his wings as they slowly glided down, joining the other dragons who were doing the same. Spyro watched as the other wingless creatures were forced to use the many stairs lining the walls, feeling sorry for them as they were forced into confined spaces. How did they ever get by without wings?

It took less than a minute for them to land on the ground, Spyro finding it slightly difficult with the abundance of people walking around the marketplace itself. One rather large pig bi-pedal yelled at Spyro as he landed only about a foot in front of him. Spyro quickly leapt to the side as the pig swung his fist, yelling threats before walking away. Cynder just laughed.

"It's over here." She said, pointing to a merchant stand near the center. Well, it looked more like a stand with a mountain of machine parts resting behind it. This guy might actually have what they were looking for…

Spyro walked up with Cynder, the merchant being a tall wolf bi-pedal who wore an eye patch. He was sharpening his knife against a metal pipe when they walked up, he looking up at them with a less then amused face.

"What do you punks want, I don't got no toys…" He said, returning to his knife sharpening.

"We're here to uh…" Spyro began, a little nervous.

"We're here to buy a part."

"I hope you got money on you because I'm not tradin for any of your shit." He pointed the knife at them, leaning against the wall of his shack.

"Oh I've got some money." Spyro said, opening his pack to show some gems. The wolf stood upright more, leaning over to inspect the gems before smiling, revealing that several of his teeth were missing.

"Very well, how can I help you my fine customers…" He said while leaning back slowly.

"I'm looking for this part, do you have one?" Spyro asked, pulling the part from his sack once again. The wolf motioned for Spyro to hand it over, which he did. The wolf looked at it for a moment before digging through a small book he had at his desk.

"Ah yes… this is an engine part for one of them… V-22 Ospreys I think. There aren't many of those lying around here anymore. How did you come across this…?" He asked, looking at Spyro.

"A friend of mine wants one of those. His got damaged in a fight."

"Well you happen to be in luck because I'm about the only person who sells them." The wolf turned, walking over to his stack of parts before digging through them. He finally retrieved a part from his pile, walking over to the pair with it.

"Here you go, that'll be four hundred gems." He said, putting the part on the table. Spyro was taken aback, he only had thirty on him!

"W-what? Four hundred gems, I don't have that many!" Spyro said, looking up with shock.

"Well then get lost kid! This is a serious part here, and there aren't many left. You want it, you'd better pony up!" He said, looking more aggravated again.

"Hey, why the need for such a high price?" Cynder asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Listen bitch, I hunt for these parts myself so I'm not going to give this one up for less than that." He said, slamming his knife onto the table, letting the blade stick into the wood.

"If I remember correctly, I saw you giving a little rodent child the other day a single gem to fetch it from the sewers." Cynder said with a smirk. The wolf looked at her for a second before going wide-eyed, looking like he had been caught in his lie.

"Shut it you little punk, I'm the one doing business now, you hear?" He said, raising his knife to her.

"Careful where you point that thing, you might hurt someone you regret." She said, looking at him with an unflinching gaze.

"What? I don't care who the hell you are, get away from my-" He stopped mid-sentence, glancing at her neck-brace. He suddenly froze before retracting his knife, putting it away quickly as a look of nervousness took over his otherwise threatening demeanor.

"Oh, I uh… sorry to do that miss, you can have the part, free of charge!" He said, backing away.

"What're you…" Spyro turned to Cynder, raising an eyebrow. She only smiled at him before pushing the part towards Spyro with her paw.

"Thank you for your business sir." She said towards the wolf who only bowed nervously. Spyro watched Cynder for a second before retrieving the part, placing it in his sack. Cynder returned the bow towards the wolf before walking off. Spyro saw the wolf who gave her a look of disgust when she wasn't looking before turning and walking back to his pile of parts. Spyro turned back towards Cynder and walked towards her, still in a state of confusion.

"What was all that about?" Spyro asked, catching up to her.

"Oh, it's nothing." She said with a giggle.

"Oh yeah I bet. Come on, why'd he back down so easily?" Spyro asked. Cynder just shook her head at him.

"Nope, not telling. Anyway you should get that part to your friend, I'm sure you don't want to keep him waiting." She said, flapping her wings to get airborne. Spyro did the same, following right after her.

"Well hold up, where you off to now?" Spyro asked, landing at the top of the hole with her, back on the streets.

"I'm heading back to my group, my business in this city is done." She said.

"Back out west?"

"No, we've got a base up north. I'm going there to meet with my mentor Vivex."

"All by yourself?"

"I think I can handle myself. I've traveled alone before you know."

"So that's it, you're just going to head out?" Spyro asked again, stopping her as she was going to walk off again.

"Well… yeah. I should probably make myself scarce before big boy over there wakes up and tries to hunt me down. My mentor will be expecting me back north soon and I don't want to keep him waiting. It was really nice meeting you Spyro." She said, smiling at him. Spyro nodded at her, smiling as well.

"It was nice meeting you too. I hope you get there alright. Maybe we'll meet up someday."

"Maybe, see you around Spyro." She said, turning and walking away. Spyro smiled the whole time before turning, looking down the street that lead back to the inner city. He sighed, walking down the street. It was nice to know that there were other friendly dragons out there, other people like Cynder. He didn't meet too many in the city. Well… those who cared to give him the time of day. He hoped wherever she was going she was well, especially with that thug from earlier…

He knew she'd be alright, and he had to worry about himself and getting this part to Jericho.

Still, part of him wondered what that wolf saw that made him suddenly surrender his part so easily. Also, what group was she a part of he wondered. They must be pretty sizable if they control a few cities, and were dealing with the bosses in this city. Well he guessed that it didn't matter for now, that it would come about later.

The sun was moving over the apex of the sky now, meaning it was now turning to afternoon. Spyro had plenty of time to get back to Jericho in the warehouses. That was still quite the walk though… Spyro thought about flying that distance, but with those Sentinels Spyro didn't want to stick out like a cracked talon. Yeah… walking was the best option for now.

Well, maybe if he did fly out of here he could get back to the inner city quicker, save some time you know? Spyro stopped, thinking about it for a second before undoing his wings and preparing to launch himself into the air.

He hardly noticed the pair of footsteps that dashed up behind him, quickly becoming louder. He finally noticed when he felt two hands grab him around the neck and yank him back. He gasped, looking up to see a towering figure above him, sneering down to him. The arm yanked harder, making it hard for Spyro to breathe. He tried to claw at the figure and kick, but he felt himself growing weaker as his windpipe was being constricted. It wasn't long before his vision went to black.

/Transitioning…/

[Done]

It was incredibly hard to tell what the hell Spyro was looking at; his vision was far too blurry to make anything out. All he could see were the silhouettes of many figures before him, and all he could hear were muffled voices. Where was he? What had happened? He couldn't even make out a coherent thought as he closed his eyes, trying to focus. He tried to move his arms and legs, but that proved useless. He tried to conjure enough energy to use a breath attack, but he felt no energy rushing up his throat like he usually would. What was going on?

Finally his vision and hearing started to recover, and that's when he realized he was lying on his side, looking up at someone. His legs were bound together with thick rope, explaining why they were immobile. Looking up, he could see several figures towering over him, most were bi-pedal gorillas. They all looked at him with menacing looks, one holding a rope that was tied to his neck. He… was on a leash.

Turning, he saw he was inside a large room with many windows, sunlight filtering in from the outside. He could see from the vantage point that they were actually pretty high up, and that they were likely in a tower. There were many chairs in the room, and a desk near one of the large windows. A well-dressed gorilla sat behind the desk, watching him with a slight smirk, rubbing his chin.

"Looks like you decided to join us young one." He said, pointing to Spyro. Spyro sat up now, grunting. His neck was killing him… and not just from this damn leash either. They must have knocked him out… Wait, if these were the guys from before then that meant…

"Hands off you freak!" A voice to his side caught his attention, being familiar. Turning, Spyro saw that it was Cynder. She was in the same predicament as Spyro, bound and being held by another pair of large gorillas. She looked at Spyro, frowning as she was he was now awake.

"Hey…" Spyro said lowly. She just sighed, turning towards the gorilla behind the desk.

"Attacking one of my high level lieutenants is a very serious offense. I don't take too kindly to that, especially when he is my blood." The gorilla said, staring directly at Spyro. Spyro just glared at him. He didn't even notice the gorilla standing beside the desk, his chest, face and arms bandaged as they looked to bare fresh wounds. It was the same ape from before in the alley…

"Hello asshole…" The gorilla said lowly, staring right at Spyro.

"It also appears our newest piece of merchandise has tried to wander off, we can't have that now, can we." The main gorilla said, sitting back in his chair now.

"Merchandise? I'm not your merchandise! If you don't release me, you're going to be sorry!" Cynder yelled, kicking against her restraints. The ape holding her leash tugged hard, causing her to grunt.

"Oh on the contrary my dear. You have been signed and paid for. You now belong to me."

"What?! No! They'll have your head for this! Vivex would never just let you take me like this! This is a betrayal!"

The gorilla just laughed, rubbing his head softly.

"Oh that's cute. You see young one, we were only going to pledge ourselves to your cause for a few demands. My nephew has become so fond of you these past few years so… you were one of those demands. Vivex agreed, so now you belong to us."

"Which means, you belong to me…" The injured gorilla said with a sneer. Cynder's eyes were wide as she looked at the two.

"No! No they would never agree to that! This is a lie! They would never sell me out like that!"

"Well it no longer matters does it my dear." The main ape said, giving her a soft snide smile. She just shook her head, kicking more at her restraints.

"Take her to my private chambers. I'll deal with her myself later." The gorilla's nephew said, crossing his arms in victory.

"No! No!" Cynder yelled, being dragged away by the gorillas.

Spyro just watched in horror, trying to tug at his own restraints but was kicked in the back by one of the guards.

"Now, what to do with you my little friend…" The gorilla said, looking towards Spyro now while clasping his large hands together. Spyro just turned, looking at him with fear, and some anger.

"We could beat him senseless then eat him. It's been so long since we've had dragon." One of the guards said.

"I say we break his little wings and make him into one of our slaves. We could use another one around the tower." Another added.

"I want to deal with him personally…" The nephew said, cracking his knuckles.

"Very well, do with him what you want. Just get him out of my sight." The leader said, standing out of his chair.

"My pleasure…" The nephew said, walking towards Spyro.

Oh shit, shit! Spyro tried to get away, use his breath, anything! There was something around his neck, a metal device that was stopping his breath attacks!

"Oh, you like it? We made it ourselves… It stops those breath attacks of yours." The gorilla said, grabbing at the device around Spyro's neck. He kicked Spyro hard in the gut, causing him to roll over. Spyro just clenched his eyes shut, feeling the gorilla place his foot on his side.

"Oh I think I'm going to enjoy my time with you…" He said with a chuckle, pressing harder with his foot. Spyro just grunted under him, looking up with a glare.

"You won't get away with this…" Spyro said slowly.

"Oh shut your mouth." The gorilla simply said, kicking him again.

Spyro just grunted, clenching his eyes.

"Not so tough now, huh?" The gorilla asked, kicking him again violently in the gut.

"Just kill him already, punks not worth our time." One of the guards said, shouldering his weapon while watching.

"No… killing him is too easy. I think I'll go the slave route. Maybe selling him to those funny speaking merchants will give us a pretty penny…" He said, picking up Spyro's head, looking into his eyes. Spyro just glared.

"I'm going to rip your wings off so you can't escape, and I'm going to enjoy it…" He sneered at Spyro. A ping of fear washed over Spyro at those words, feeling the pain at his wing bases, even though no pressure was being applied yet.

The gorilla dropped Spyro, letting him fall to the floor while the gorilla reached for a knife on a nearby table. The leader had already left by now, the room only consisting of the nephew and two guards who watched with some amusement. If Spyro didn't do anything, he was soon going to be lacking his wings…

The gorilla turned, sneering still as he walked over to Spyro, his thumb running up and down the knife's silver blade. When the nephew was within a foot of Spyro, reaching down with his knife, Spyro acted.

He moved his neck forward, attaching his jaws onto the gorilla's leg. The gorilla let out a yell, dropping the knife. The knife clattered on the floor, the two guards immediately jumping into action. Spyro acted fast, immediately reaching over with his mouth to rip off the ropes on his hind-legs. As the two guards ran up, Spyro reared himself up, thrusting his now free hind-legs, letting them hit one of the guards, knocking him into the other. The two guards tumbled to the floor in a heap, the other gorilla getting up now. He yelled a curse, reaching over for Spyro. He rolled to the side, using the time to rip off the ropes on his fore-legs. Free he charged at the gorilla, knocking him onto his back.

He opened his muzzle, attempting to use a breath attack. Nothing came out…

Damn it! That energy inhibitor was still on his neck! The gorilla just smiled up at him before Spyro charged forward, pushing his horns into the gorilla causing him to yell in pain as the horns pierced his flesh. The gorilla rolled several feet before he came to a halt before the leader's desk. He grunted, trying to get back up. Spyro took this chance, bolting out of the door and down the hall. He had to free Cynder and get the hell out of this place!

Running down the hall Spyro tried to find where Cynder was. There were so many doors, and branching hallways, Spyro had no clue where he was! He ran down one hallway to the next before stopping, looking around again. Shit… he wished he had broken free earlier, he might have heard where they were taking Cynder. They said she was being taken to the nephew's private quarters… maybe if he looked for that?

A loud bang and a female voice caught his attention, making him look down a nearby hallway. He heard another grunt, and a crashing sound. The voice was definitely Cynder's! Spyro dashed, running down towards the source of the sound.

Within a foot of the door that he had heard the sounds behind, Spyro was brought to a halt as the door suddenly burst forward, an ape's body tumbling out of It and onto the floor. Blood trickled from a wound to his face, and he was not moving. Taking a deep breath, he peered around the corner.

He saw Cynder, on her back as she was up against a crate in the room, panting.

"Cynder!" Spyro yelled, running in.

"Spyro, there you are…" She said, getting up. Her restraints were already off, though like him, her inhibitor was still squarely in place, right below the neck brace she usually wore.

"Here we go…" Cynder said, walking over to the fallen gorilla. In his hand he had a key, which looked like it fitted into their neck bracelets. She grunted, leaning down to try and fit her brace onto the key in the gorilla's grasp. She grunted, being forced to press her face against the gorilla's body as she tried to push down onto the key while her paws held the gorilla's hand in place.

"Damn I wish I had thumbs…" She commented as she managed to fit her brace onto it, turning slightly. There was a click, and the brace snapped open and fell off her neck.

"Quick, do mine, I think they're coming…" Spyro said, walking over.

"Here, come on." She said, leaning away so he could lean down to place it in the keyhole as well. He was almost forced to press his face into the ape's arm and chest, feeling where the keyhole was. He felt it slip in and he felt a feeling of relief wash over his body as he felt it click inside. He turned slightly, trying to work the key and unlock his brace. It wasn't moving… What was he doing wrong? He tugged more, trying to find the right angle… but it just wasn't…

SNAP

"What was that…?" Cynder asked, tilting her head. Spyro felt fear instead crossing his body, realizing he had made a grave mistake.

Lifting his head, he felt the brace still on his neck, and something metallic fall to the floor. On the floor sat half of a key, snapped right in the middle. He had broken the key in the brace…

"Oh shit…" Spyro said, seeing it.

"Spyro, you broke it!" Cynder said, running over to grab at the key.

"I know! I know!" Spyro said, starting to panic.

There were voices down the hall, followed by heavy footsteps.

"Shit, here they come Spyro, we have to go!" Cynder said, managing to grasp the broken key in her talons, fiddling with it before Spyro managed to catch it.

"What am I supposed to do with this?!" Spyro asked, still panicked.

"Here, put it in your sack!" Cynder said, grabbing Spyro's satchels that had been sitting on a desk nearby. Spyro grunted, running over to his satchels, putting them on quickly and placing the broken key inside.

"There they are!" A guard said, bursting into the door.

"Shit, Spyro get back!" Cynder yelled, leaping forward and opening her muzzle, a sphere of purple energy escaping her muzzle and making contact with the guard's chest. He yelled in pain, the force of the attack knocking him into the hallway. Two other gorillas were knocked back by the blast, Cynder charging the hallway, Spyro quickly following. They plowed through the dazed gorillas, passing right in-between them.

"After them! Don't let them get away!" Yelled one of them, the large creatures giving chase.

They darted down the hall, trying to find a way out. There were no windows, no ways to indicate where they were!

"Where'd you learn that attack?!" Spyro asked, taken aback by her element back there.

"No time to explain! Come on!" She yelled back, running forward down another hallway. They rounded a corner, coming to two metallic doors. One of them was slightly ajar, darkness only sitting inside.

"In here!" She yelled, stepping back slightly before firing another purple shot, it blasting the doors open. She wasted no time, not even letting the dust settle as she leapt into the dark room. Where had she gone?! Spyro grunted, wasting no time himself as he followed right behind. Inside, his vision cleared, showing him they were in a massive shaft running vertically in the building. Wait, he had heard of these, they were… elevator shafts?

Spyro tumbled for a few seconds before he brought his wings out, letting them catch air, letting him descend safety, Cynder having already done the same as she sailed downwards.

Loud clacks sounded off above, bullets pinging around them as the gorillas at the top of the shaft were firing down at them.

"Shit, shit!" Spyro said, trying to speed his descent to safety. While trying to speed up, he felt his foot snag on something, and he was quickly thrown off balance. He began to tumble, his chest slamming into the metallic walls as his foot had been caught on a wire. The wire came lose at some point above him, and he entered a free fall as it gave way.

"Spyro!" Cynder yelled at him, leaping upwards to catch him. He felt himself fall onto her, she grunting as she flapped her wings hard to keep him afloat.

"Damn you're heavy…" She grunted, trying to grab him.

"Sorry!" He said, trying to flap his own wings but the wire was now getting caught all over his body.

"Hold on!" She said, leaning her head up, opening her muzzle and unleashing another blast of purple energy. A sphere sailed upwards, connecting with the top of the shaft where the gorillas were. Screams of pain and agony escaped the blast as they were hit, and only dust and purple fire remained above where they once stood.

"Come on, we can't stop." She said, grabbing the wire and cutting it with her tail blade.

"Right, right." Spyro said, nodding as he was free. They sailed downwards again, landing at the base of the shaft where the elevator had come to rest. Cynder looked at the nearest door leading out, which was only a few feet above them. She fired another shot, blowing out the door.

They both leapt through, finding themselves in an open room with windows on the far wall, revealing the outside to them.

"Come on, the way out!" She said, running towards the windows. Spyro followed, panting as sunlight never looked so good.

"Not so fast!" A voice came from their side, and a large form collided with Cynder, slamming her onto the floor.

"Cynder!" Spyro yelled, stepping back.

The nephew stood over her, holding her by her neck as he pointed a large blade at her. Blood dripped from his wounds that Spyro had just given him.

"You will be my little pet, even if I have to drag your dead body there myself…" He said, clenching her neck.

"You sick bastard…" Cynder said, glaring at him.

"Get off of her!" Spyro yelled, leaping at the gorilla. The gorilla brought his blade up, slashing at Spyro as he anticipated his path. Spyro saw this, flapping his wings to make a quick adjustment. He still managed to grab the gorilla, bringing him off of Cynder. The gorilla yelled, instead standing back up and swinging his blade at the purple dragon. Spyro leapt back, panting as a clean hit from that blade could cut his arm clean off.

"I'll kill you, you little bastard! We'll feast on you tonight, right in front of your little bitch girlfriend!" He yelled in pure rage, swinging again at Spyro. Spyro leapt back again, trying to find a way to engage him since he lacked his breath attacks. Cynder found no issue with this, breathing a stream of fire into his back. He yelled in pain, fire consuming him as he tried to extinguish it.

"Yeah, that's right! Taste the fire you bastard!" She yelled, panting. He continued to yell before ignoring the fire, it having gone out somewhat as he rushed her. She gasped, leaping to the side. Spyro used this chance, leaping at him from behind. He brought his claws down, taking a good piece of his flesh off. The gorilla yelled in pain again, falling to his knee. His blade fell to the floor with a clang, the gorilla now using his free hand to grab at Spyro, throwing him to the floor. Cynder tried to use another fire attack but the gorilla spotted this, kicking her quickly. She slid on the floor, rolling to a stop nearby.

"Get… away from her!" Spyro yelled, rushing the gorilla again. The gorilla quickly swung his blade, forcing Spyro to get back again. The gorilla charged forward, using this chance to grab Spyro by the neck. He slammed Spyro hard onto the floor, bringing the blade into a stabbing position. Spyro quickly bit his hand, making him yell but he still brought the blade down.

"Noooo!" Cynder yelled from the side, rushing the gorilla. He saw this, stopping the blade and going to swing at Cynder. Cynder's eyes went wide as she tried to stop, but the blade was going right for her throat. Spyro didn't waste a moment, grabbing the gorilla with his legs and kicking to his right, towards the nearby windows. The gorilla let out a yelp, the blade slipping from his hands as he was sent into the windows, crashing right through them.

Time went into slow motion, the glass tumbling around gracefully as the nephew passed right through. Spyro hardly noticed that the ape had yet to let go of his own neck, and only did notice it when he felt his body flying right through the glass as well.

Spyro let out a yell, the gorilla clenching harder to his neck as the two fell in free fall down out of the tower. Sunlight coated the dragon, and he could see everything around them. They were indeed inside a tower, and even after that descent in the elevator shaft they were still very high up. The ground was so far below, yet it was coming closer and closer with each passing second. The gorilla's grip onto Spyro's neck had loosened and Spyro kicked his legs, forcing him to release him completely.

This… wasn't the best of ideas. This made Spyro tumble helplessly, making his wings useless. Yelling desperately Spyro tried to find something to land on, anything to land on. He felt his body slam hard into the side of the building, and he managed to flap his wings enough to catch air. This helped him, somewhat.

He still hit the side of the building hard, and the force knocked him back, hitting another building nearby and tumbling down onto a tarp covered food stand. He tore through the tarp quickly, falling into the stand and slamming into a shelf filled with fruit. The gorilla landed nearby, slamming into a cart and destroying it completely as his blood coated the floor.

Spyro groaned, his head throbbing hard as he slowly came to, everyone around him screaming and yelling in fear from the two creatures crashing from above. His entire body ached as he managed to slowly remove himself from the broken wood and crushed fruits. He only managed to make it a few feet before collapsing onto the floor nearby.

The sounds of wings fluttering above him caught his attention, Cynder hovering just feet away as she looked around quickly, trying to find Spyro. She finally spotted him inside the covered fruit stand, landing bear him.

"Spyro! Spyro are you alright?!" She asked, quickly helping him up. He moaned, still disoriented.

"My whole body hurts… How far did I fall…?" He asked. She just shook her head, laughing.

"Oh thank the Gods you're alive, come on, we have to move before those goons get here!" She said, pulling him so he'd get to his feet. He managed to stumble but he was able to move. The two of them darted, leaving behind the body of the dead nephew, blood splattering the very ground where he had landed.

They ran as far as they could, finally reaching more familiar territory for Spyro as they were in the inner city market places, a fair distance from the city center and its corruption. Spyro panted, leaning down against a crate as Cynder did the same.

"Wow… that was something huh…?" She asked, looking at him. He shook his head.

"I think I'll lie down after this…" He said, managing a chuckle out.

"Yeah… that does sound nice…" She said, leaning up slightly.

"By the way… where'd you learn that move? Also… what's the deal with those guys, why are they so interested in you and your group…?" Spyro asked, still panting. Cynder looked at him for a second before looking at the ground. He continued to look at her, his body calming down somewhat, enough that he was able to see the worry and nervousness on her face. She finally looked back up at him, still frowning.

"Look… I'm not supposed to tell you this… but I'm a Sentinel." She finally said. Spyro's heart stopped dead in its tracks.

"You're… a Sentinel…?" He asked, trying to calm himself but realizing he was failing at the very same time.

"Yes… We're making deals with local cities here, trying to form alliances so when we finally bring our presence into the area things can peacefully transition. I guess they thought they could get away with keeping me as a trophy… those sick bastards…" She said, shaking her head.

Spyro didn't speak, only looking at the stone ground.

"L-look, I know we get a bad rap out here but we're really trying to do good things. We're bringing peace across the land, just like it is out west. We can improve people's lives here…" She said, sensing the disappointment in his voice.

"If you say so. I've seen your buddies here in the city, they trying to help annex this place too?" He asked, looking up at her again. She sighed softly, shaking her head.

"No, those guys are on another operation. I don't know what they're up to, just that it's top secret stuff. I'm… I'm not a true Sentinel, not yet."

"Not a true Sentinel?"

"No, I'm just an initiate. There's a lot of things they don't tell us initiates until we're ready to take the pledge." She said.

"I see…" Spyro said, looking away again. He guessed that explains why she didn't attack him outright after seeing his purple scales. She must not be in on what those other Sentinels knew.

Wait a second, what was he thinking? She's a Sentinel! He had to get away from her! He… he had to go before he got him and his friends into real trouble!

"Spyro! Spyro there you are!" Spyro heard a familiar voice, coming from nearby. He picked his head up, turning to see a red dragon darting at them, a familiar yellow dragonfly in tow.

"Flame! There you are!" Spyro said, grunting as he leaned away from the crate slightly.

"Whoa! You look like shit dude, what happened?!" Flame asked, looking Spyro over. Spyro hadn't realized how badly bruised he was from all those fights, and that fall of course.

"Y-yeah… I'll tell you later…" Spyro said, shaking his head.

"If you say so, and who's this, a friend of yours?" Flame asked, seeing Cynder.

"Hello there, I'm Cynder. Are you a friend of Spyro's?" Cynder asked, bowing to Flame slightly. Flame smiled a bit at that.

"Yeah, I'm Flame, Spyro's buddy." Flame said with his usual cheery demeanor.

"Pleased to meet you." Cynder said, nodding.

"Did you get the part?" Flame asked, turning to Spyro. Oh damn, the part! Spyro had been caught up in all this he nearly forgot the whole reason he went to the city center in the first place.

He turned, pulling his very tattered and worn satchel open, pulling out the part. It was still in good condition, considering what he had just gone through. Most of his things were also here still, thankfully… Including the broken key from earlier. Oh… right… the bracelet… Spyro looked down, seeing the inhibitor strapped around his neck.

"Hey where'd you get that weird brace thing?" Flame said, pointing to the inhibitor. Spyro just sighed.

"Later…" He said, shaking his head.

"Come on guys, we've got to get off the street, those guys'll be combing the streets in force soon." Cynder said, looking behind them again.

"Who? Don't tell me you're being followed again Spyro…" Flame said. Spyro shot him a glare before nodding to Cynder.

"Yeah, we'd better move." Spyro said.

"Come on, let's get back to the hideout!" Flame said, moving towards the warehouses.

"Good idea, come on Spyro!" Cynder said, following him. Spyro let out a low groan before following.

What had he just gotten himself into?

End of Chapter 04


	5. Loyalties

Chapter 05: Loyalties

October 26, 4:33 PM

"Oh man, that smells good…" Flame said, sitting by a pot of cooking food.

"This is a quaint little place you guys have here." Cynder commented, sitting near the pot as Spyro shook it over the fire, using a special holder with divots so he could actually grab the pot with his talons.

"Yeah though it's a little dark." Spyro said, noting the lack of any windows in Jericho's basement hideout.

"You guys look like shit, tell me, what happened?" Flame asked, holding a pillow to his chest while sitting nearby.

"Well, we got the part-"

"Yeah I got that much!" Flame said, cutting Spyro off with a laugh. Spyro shook his head.

"We ran into the city's thug groups." Cynder said, clarifying for Spyro.

"Uh oh, what'd you guys do?" Flame asked.

"It was me, they were after me and Spyro helped me. Turns out they didn't like that." Cynder said, shaking her head.

"So they captured us, and were going to sell us into slavery. That's why I have this damn brace on, it's an elemental inhibitor."

"Speak for yourself, they were going to… 'keep me'. Ugh, those pigs…" Cynder gave a look of disgust at that, shaking her head.

"How'd you get away then?"

"Dude I don't even know, but I got knocked out of one of those skyscrapers. Damn my back still hurts." Spyro said, rubbing his back softly.

"Man, sounds you guys had all the fun. So… what's the deal with you?" Flame asked, turning to Cynder.

"Oh, I'm just… here in the city on business. Spyro helped me get away from those thugs, and I helped him get his part."

"So you're just visiting? Where are you from originally?"

"From out west."

"You going to head back there?"

"No I'm going northeast to another city for now. I have to meet someone there."

"Hey, Spyro what's wrong? You look upset." Flame said, turning towards his friend who had been silent, staring at the pot of food.

"Yeah, what's wrong Spyro?" Cynder asked, turning to him too. Spyro snapped out of his little stare, shaking his head as he stirred the pot a little quicker, as if pressured. He looked up at them, sighing a bit.

"I uh… nothing's wrong." He said. Cynder frowned, seeing him say that. She looked at the floor for a second before looking back up.

"We still have to get that brace off of you, it's probably not helping you right now."

"No, no it isn't. Do you know how to get it off?" Spyro asked, looking back up at her.

"Somewhat… I know that the gorillas probably told you they made it. Those guys are lying through their teeth, they stole these. I've seen them before out west. A group to the north uses these against dragons who they capture so they can sell them into slavery. I… know you have to have a key to unlock and deactivate it."

"So, we can use that key and make a new one?"

"Not exactly, it has to be an enchanted key. Unless you know anyone in town who can make those it's going to be hard to get it off."

Flame and Spyro both shook their heads, not knowing anyone in the city who had that kind of expertise.

"So… I can't get it off then?" Cynder sighed, looking around before looking back up at Spyro.

"I… do know one person who specializes in making enchanted keys."

"You do, where is he?"

"Well… that's the thing, he lives far away from here to the north east."

"Oh…"

"I'm heading that way anyway, to my city. You're welcomed to come with me Spyro. I could help get your brace off for you." She said with a smile. He smiled up at her, nodding.

"Well it doesn't look like I have a choice, do I?" He said with a soft laugh. His laugh faded, once again being reminded who she was. She was a Sentinel, an enemy to him and to Jericho.

"Hey, wasn't your friend going somewhere too? That part we got, it's for an old human aircraft isn't it?"

"Yeah, he's going to use it to go somewhere." Flame said.

"If he's heading northeast, maybe we can hitch a ride." Cynder suggested. Spyro's heart was thumping in his neck, making him panic slightly. Oh shit… how could he refuse without giving away Jericho? Things were just getting worse, and worse!

"Y-yeah, though only if he's heading that way.

Cynder laughed.

"Well it's settled then! We'll head that way on my way to my city. You're welcomed to follow me all the way there, it's a terrific place!" She said with a smile. Spyro nodded, trying to put on the best smile he could.

"Sweet! We got another person in our little party!" Flame said with a smile as well. Sparx buzzed happily nearby, delighted at the news as well. He flew by Cynder, passing over her head and body to look her over. Cynder giggled as he did so.

"Well now, he's curious isn't he?"

Spyro chuckled a bit.

"His name's Sparx, he's our dragonfly."

"Nice to meet you Sparx." Cynder said, smiling. Sparx gave her a delighted look before buzzing away.

"Is the food ready yet?" Flame asked, holding the pillow tighter.

"Just about. I think it's finished already. I'm going to go check up on Jericho." Spyro said, standing from the pot. Flame quickly grabbed a special bowl that he owned, the bowl being carved specifically for dragon usage. Cynder grabbed one of her own, letting the food pour into their bowls. Spyro walked out of the room, walking down one of the tunnels to where the Osprey was being kept.

He emerged into the warehouse, the soft afternoon sun filtering in through the windows lining the upper parts of the walls. The entire room was cast in a soft orange light, with the familiar form of the human-made Osprey resting in the center of the room. Jericho stood under one of the main engines, messing around with some of its insides. Clearly, he was installing the new part Spyro had retrieved for him.

"Hey Jericho, we made some food if you're hungry." Spyro said, walking over towards him. Jericho stopped, looking back as he had his upper half stuck inside the massive engine.

"Oh, didn't notice you there. Thanks, but I want to finish this engine first." He said, moving himself back into the engine.

"So how is it coming along, is the part working?"

"It fit in just as I had hoped, now I'm just trying to reassemble this engine and make sure it's able to run… This thing should be running and ready to take off tonight or tomorrow morning."

"You going to make this trip yourself?"

"If I have to. I have to finish this."

"Just what are you trying to do?"

Jericho stopped, stepping back out of the engine, whipping his forehead clear of sweat. He looked over the engine a bit longer before sticking his arm back up inside of it.

"I'm going somewhere." He simply said.

"Yeah we know that much…" Spyro said, chuckling.

"I can't tell you any more than that…"

"Why not though, we've helped you with the engine. I even got this damn brace on my neck because of it…"

"About that, I sure hope you have the key to that thing, because I certainly don't."

"No… Cynder says I need a special enchanted key to remove this."

"The people who put that on you, they don't have one you can retrieve?" Jericho asked, turning to face him.

"No… it broke while we were getting them off…"

"I see, and you don't know anyone who can forge something like that?"

"No. Cynder… Cynder says she knows someone up north who can remove it. Though… she says he lives far away from here."

"I see where this is going." Jericho turned, picking up a pipe and placing it back inside the engine while looking at a piece of paper he had taped to the engine's shell, using it as reference.

"So… you'd let us tag along to go up north…?" Spyro asked, hopeful now.

Jericho sighed before grabbing a wrench.

"I do appreciate your help. You're the first dragon who's ever offered it to me before. You've gotten me this part, which… I doubt I could have gotten on my own."

Spyro smiled, perking up.

"That being said… I don't trust your new friend Cynder. There's something about her, I don't like it." Jericho added, turning to face Spyro as he said that. Spyro frowned, looking away.

"She just wants to help, and she's heading north herself to some city."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, she's meeting up with her… group up there."

"You guys can tag along I suppose… but like I said, I don't trust her. The first chance I get I'm dropping her off. "

"That's great! Thanks Jericho!" Spyro said, smiling wide now.

"I'm only doing this as a favor to you for helping get me this part. Now I'm as close as I'll ever be to getting there…" He placed both his hands on a nearby crate, looking at it with deep thought. Spyro tilted his head while looking at him.

"How… important is this to you? Getting to this place I mean. It must be an important place."

"It's only the place I've been seeking my entire life."

"Why is that? You must know it's dangerous to be out there as a human. Why risk it to get to this place?"

"It's… important to me. It was important to my friends to; it's why they gave their lives like that. It's all so we can get there… so I can get there."

"You still haven't said why you need to get there. Where is this place at even?"

"Far to the northeast, up along the old east coast. Once we leave this place, I might just tell you where I'm going."

Spyro just shook his head, chuckling.

"Thanks. I hope you find what you're looking for when you get there." Spyro said, turning to leave back to the basement.

As Spyro left, Jericho turned, looking back at him as he left before softly whispering.

"So do I…"

/Transitioning…/

[Done]

"So what, you two are orphans?" Cynder said with a chuckle, laying on a pillow on the floor. Spyro laughed a bit, shaking his head.

"If that's what you want to call us. This city is…"

"City sucks" Flame finished for Spyro, chewing on a piece of bread while Sparx buzzed above them, trying to nick the food away.

"Cut it out!" Flame said, trying to hide his bread from the thieving dragonfly.

"This city does seem in a very bad way… but it's like a lot of places in my travels. There's not much out there that is better." Cynder said, frowning.

"I would like to see it, the world outside that is. It would probably be way more interesting than this city." Spyro said, shaking his head.

"I dunno, that flooded city section of yours is pretty sweet." Cynder said with a chuckle.

"It is, but damn if it isn't hard to navigate." Flame added, still chewing on his bread.

Cynder just shook her head, watching Sparx zip across the room behind them. She stopped, looking over their shoulders to the other end of the room where a door lead to a small closet where Jericho was. The door was slightly ajar, only showing a bit of him as he sat on a crate, eating a bowl of food. He insisted on eating over there, rather than joining them. When he came to get his food, Spyro saw him wearing a hood over his head, and a mask over his face to obscure it from Cynder. If Spyro could remember correctly, it was called a gas mask. Many denizens around the city had one, and used it when exploring areas with thick dust and debris.

Jericho didn't say a word to them when he came to get his food, only pouring a bowl for himself and moving back to the side closet. Spyro knew he didn't trust Cynder, and now this only reinforced it. Spyro just sighed softly, looking at the ground.

"So… this Jericho guy, who is he?" Cynder asked, turning to Spyro.

"Oh, Jericho, what about him?" Spyro answered, being taken from his thoughts.

"Like, who is he? What kind of species is he?"

Flame turned to Spyro, almost as if to ask if they had permission to reveal Jericho's identity with only his eyes. Spyro saw this, only giving him a side glance before quickly trying to think of an answer.

"I'm not real sure, he rarely shows his face. We met him a few days ago and decided to help him."

"Why? He seems so mysterious…"

Spyro just shrugged.

"He won't tell us." Flame said, interjecting.

"And you guys… are alright with that?" Cynder asked.

Spyro looked at the floor for a bit before looking up.

"He was in a bad way, and we offered to help. We've never really been outside the city… we thought this'd be something to see." Spyro answered, a bit of truth in that answer actually. She looked at him for a bit before shaking her head with a soft chuckle.

"You two really are strange." She merely said. Spyro just gave an innocent shrug.

"So you said you're out from the west, what's it like over there?" Flame asked Cynder.

"It's got a lot more cities then here. Well… built up cities. You'd be amazed what an organized group can do. There's more civilization there… here it's a little more unorganized."

"Well nobody's really tried to rally the different cities or factions together… other than those gangs." Spyro said, a bit of disdain coming forth from him as he said the word 'gang'.

"Yeah you can say that." Flame said as well. They had all finished their food by now, the soft glow of the fire illuminating the room. There was a bit of silence following, each of them looking like they were lost in some form of thought. They were all enticed by the fire, watching as it drifted silently, cracks and pops breaking the silence in the room. They almost didn't notice when a loud thump was heard above.

"What the…" Flame got up, looking around as a bit of dust fell down. Jericho burst forth from the closet, his weapon in hand and his mask firmly in place as he raced towards one of the doors, running down the hall.

"What's going on?" Cynder asked, standing up as well.

"I don't know, but I think someone's stumbled onto us…" Spyro said, watching the door Jericho had just raced down. A few minutes later he raced back in, closing the door behind him.

"Kill that fire!" He said, almost in a loud whisper.

Cynder immediately stomped on the fire, putting it out. She flinched a bit as the heat burnt her paws slightly but it was the fastest way to extinguish it. Spyro and Flame both moved away from the center of the room, towards the edge and behind some old boxes. Cynder joined them, the room slowly growing dark as Jericho killed the other light inside the room.

"What's going on?" Spyro asked in a whisper, seeing Jericho taking cover behind a box as tall as he was, his weapon firmly in his hands.

"Someone's followed you two here… Stay quiet." He instructed, taking a position to immediately ambush whoever barged through the door. Spyro just let out a soft breath, pressing himself against the crate, peering over just enough to see the steel door.

They could hear voices, and footsteps. Make that, a lot of footsteps.

They were all shuffling closer and closer, towards the door. Jericho just stood there, tensed up as he didn't have his body armor on, just his jacket and light gear. He did have his rifle, and his hands gripped it tightly as they got closer.

"Yeah I think they're here, I can definitely smell their dragon stench." One voice said as they were right outside the door. Flame turned to Spyro, who just shot him a serious look. Flame looked a little fearful, but he nonetheless sat with them behind the crates.

"Break this door down!" Another said loudly. A few seconds later the door blew open, the large metal plated door slamming onto the ground, smoke filling in the blackened room.

"Knock, knock!" A figure said as he entered the room. Spyro could barely make out his silhouette in the light from the door, the creature being a bi-pedal of some kind, very furry. They could smell his fur… he obviously hadn't taken a bath in quite a while. There were several creatures behind him, all looking to be holding weapons of some kind. Oh yeah… this was definitely a kill squad. Spyro could see a bit more of the first one in the light… he looked to be a hyena bi-pedal. The others behind him were all various species but the ones lumbering behind them were definitely more guerrillas.

"Don't bother hiding, I can smell your stench in here you vermin! Boss says you all get to die…" The hyena said with a deep throated laugh, lifting his weapon into the air. Spyro ducked his head down as the group began to move into the room, all looking around for their prey. Spyro just watched Jericho, who remained still the entire time.

Suddenly Jericho moved, and with lightning speed. He moved his body from cover, his rifle immediately lifted up into the air, shots ringing out in the room as he opened fire into the group. The rifle let out an ear-splitting CLANG sound each time it fired, accompanied by the usual crackling retort of a rifle. The room came to life as he fired off several shots, the hyena catching a few rounds right in the chest and crumpling over. The others were taken by surprise, not expecting retaliation like this. They panicked, trying to find Jericho in the mess of flashes as their weapons were going off in a desperate ploy. Shots rang off throughout the room, the darkness confusing them as they couldn't see where Jericho was, just where his rifle was going off. More and more took hits, blood coating the walls where their bodies had once been.

Cynder leapt forward from cover, leaping almost in front of Jericho's rounds. She opened her muzzle, a wave of fire coming forth and into the group of creatures who had been trapped in the narrow passageway. They screamed in terror, her flames catching them in their vulnerable positions. Those not caught in the inferno were cut down as Jericho raced forward, accurate rounds putting them down one by one.

"Come on, move!" Jericho said, grabbing Spyro's arm as he charged forward.

Spyro had to snap out of it, quickly moving with Jericho.

"Grab the supplies, we're leaving." Jericho said, moving to the closet to retrieve his armor and pack. Flame and Cynder moved too, going to get their stuff. Spyro did the same, running to his satchel packs lying nearby. He moved his belongings into them quickly before using the divots on the straps to lift them up onto him. The magnetic couplings clicked together, and with a quick flick of his talon Spyro had locked them into place. Flame did the same, as well as Cynder as she placed her cooking gear into her own pack, using her muzzle to push them inside as they all lacked thumbs.

Jericho came out of the closet, wearing his body armor and full gear, motioning towards the door for them to exit. They raced down the hall, exiting into the warehouse with the Osprey. The orange light of dusk was outside, filtering in through the windows and slightly open doors. Two figures stood near the Osprey, a cheetah and deer bi-pedal both wearing combat gear similar to the thugs they had fought below. They heard the loud noise of the trap door bursting open, both turning to see Jericho step up into the room. Before they could reach for their weapons, Jericho fired three shots, two hitting the cheetah in the chest and neck, the other landing directly into the skull of the deer. They toppled over, the loud retort of Jericho's rifle bouncing off the empty warehouse's walls. Jericho raced towards the Osprey, throwing his pack inside while moving towards the door. Outside more voices could be heard, move thugs.

"In here, the shots came from in here!" One yelled. Jericho grabbed the doors, pulling onto them to get them open. Cynder raced forward, opening her muzzle to fire a shot of fire at two bear bi-pedals that had been racing to the door to challenge them. They were caught in the fury of flames and toppled over. Jericho paid them no mind, pulling hard on the warehouse doors to get them open.

"Jericho?" Spyro asked, a little urgent.

"Cover me, I have to get them open for the Osprey to get out!" Jericho yelled, almost getting the first door cleared. Spyro nodded, racing outside with Cynder. Flame was right behind him, as well as Sparx.

Outside it was quiet, the bodies of the two bi-pedals staining the ground with their blood. Had they been the only ones they had sent? Was it all safe now? Spyro wasn't going to wait, racing out in the open to keep them at bay. Jericho had gotten one of the doors open by now, and he was quickly moving to the other.

"Was that all of them?" Flame asked, hiding behind a broken crate.

"I don't know, let's hope, right?" Cynder added. Sparx just gave a low whimper as he sat next to Spyro.

"Easy does it… there are more out there, I know it." Spyro said.

"I hear them!" Flame said, sitting up. Sure enough, Spyro could see more figures dashing out of a nearby warehouse, they finally stirring from hearing those gunshots.

"Take this!" Cynder yelled, firing a bolt of dark energy at them. The bolt flew true, blasting several into the air like a small bomb. They screamed in agony, clothing armor and weapons flying through the air along with their former owners.

"Whoa, what was that?!" Flame asked, astonished by Cynder's move. Before he got an answer, a bullet slammed into the box next to him, forcing him to roll.

"Get them!" Yelled a bi-pedal the small group of attackers slowly encircling them.

"Come on!" Cynder yelled, leaping from cover to challenge them. Spyro followed right behind her, opening his muzzle to unleash a fury of flames… and…

Nothing came out.

Spyro stopped, coughing as he tried to use his breath attack.

Shit! The bracelet… Spyro looked down, seeing that bracelet staring him back in the face.

"Spyro what the hell are you doing, get down!" Cynder yelled. Flame grabbed Spyro, throwing him back behind the crates they were hiding behind.

"Dude your powers are still gone, let us do it!" He yelled, racing forward to help Cynder. Spyro just sat, watching as the two held off the group of attackers. He wanted to help, badly but… he had no abilities.

By now Jericho had opened the doors, and the Osprey was slowly moving outside into the center of the open lot. The attackers had begun to attack the craft, bullets pinging off its metallic hull. Jericho moved seats, grabbing the controls on the other console. Spyro moved out of the way as he saw a small device on the base of the craft's nose come to life.

All at once a loud CRACKING sound resonated through the open lot as it turned out those were weapons mounted on its underbelly. The tremendous roar of the weapons coupled with their absolute ability to shred them into pieces sent many into a run, abandoning their weapons right where they stood. It was enough to break the attack, only if for a moment.

Jericho took this time to switch seats again, furiously tapping at the controls as the rotors spun faster, the air around the craft gusting like the winds from a storm. This threw Spyro and Cynder off balance, forcing them to land as so much wind was created from the Osprey. It slowly lifted off of the ground, to Spyro's amazement. It climbed up, hovering above the buildings now. That thing really could fly!

"Spyro! Come on!" Cynder yelled, snapping him out of it. She flew up, towards the craft. Flame did the same, grunting as the winds were so strong. Spyro followed, flying right into the open hatch in the back. Flame and Cynder landed behind him, almost skidding to a halt inside the moving craft. Sparx buzzed in last, picking up the rear.

"Hang on!" Jericho yelled from up front. The door behind them began to close, sealing behind them as what Spyro had taken for a ramp was really a large door. The craft lurched forward almost knocking them to their feet. Getting up, Spyro ran up to the front of the craft to look out, seeing the city vanish beneath them as the craft streaked through the sky.

"Woah! Look at this thing go!" He exclaimed, seeing the city streets he had been so familiar with now vanishing beneath him. Flame moved up as well, watching as they saw the towering skyscrapers of the city center from such a high angle, and pass by them as they were nothing. They were now the kings of the sky.

"Oh yeah, look at this thing go!" Jericho yelled out himself, excited to finally fly this craft.

Spyro could see so far towards the horizon, seeing mountains, fields, forests and buildings going as far as his eyes could see. He had flown before, yeah but… this was completely different. They were so high up, and he could see so far into this world he thought he had known all his life. The sun was setting off in the distance, its orange light casting itself onto the world, onto this new world as they flew farther from the city. Below, he could see the last of the buildings fade beneath them, fade away from his view.

All Spyro's life all he had known was this city, this massive urban sprawl that he had grown to know and love. Now it was fading beneath him, and a new world was revealing itself over the horizon. For the moment, Spyro just looked, and thought. What would this new world be like? Would it be as inhospitable as the city, or better? He had grown so accustom to living in the city, would it help him in the outside world? Who lived out there, beyond the horizon?

Would he ever see his home again…?

All Spyro could see now were almost infinite expanses of trees and jungle as the night sky began to settle in above them. Spyro let out a soft breath, hoping that he was really ready for what lay ahead.

He really did hope… However for the moment he just wanted to take it all in.

/Transitioning…/

[Done]

Spyro rested on his back, looking up at the ceiling of the craft. The roof was a mess of different pipes, metal plates and a netting that was hanging from the ceiling. What was that netting for? Why was it only so far down from the ceiling? What would they have put up there? Beside him, farther down the row of chairs that lined the wall of the craft there was a small sack of items and a crate- the supplies Flame had taken from their outpost and items Jericho had brought along. Flame rested at the far end, closest to the place where Jericho sat in front. Cynder rested opposite of him, her head curled in as she was fast asleep. Sparx was resting himself, sitting up near the ceiling of the craft, perched in the inner workings.

It had been a few hours since they had left the city, and from what Spyro could tell the sun had already settled over the horizon. Only a soft blue light escaped the front of the craft where Jericho was, rather than the orange tint of the sun that he had seen earlier. The loud hum of the engines were all Spyro could hear, thundering with great might as they propelled this craft forward into the sky.

Spyro turned, getting off of the bench and walking towards the front of the craft. Inside Jericho sat, staring out over the expanse as he softly held onto the controls. His hood was down and his mask was pulled down just enough so it didn't cover his face, now just resting against his chin, ready to put back on at a moment's notice.

Spyro walked over, peering out of the window panes of the craft, seeing the world out there. He could barely see anything, only clouds and stars above. Below, he could barely make out what he thought was ground, but it was so dark only the blue tint of the ground gave it away, especially when the shadows from the clouds would block out the moonlight. Just how far up were they? This was incredible…

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Jericho asked.

"Oh yeah… how do you know where you're going? I can barely see anything down there." Spyro said, trying to get another look.

"Easy, I know our bearings." Jericho responded, not moving an inch.

"What?"

"Our heading, on the map." Jericho pointed to a folded up map on the controls, as well as what looked like a built in compass for the craft.

"Man, in this thing, we can get there in no time…" Spyro said, looking out again.

"That was the idea. It shouldn't be more than a day now. Her engines might be weak compared to her originals, but they'll get us there." Jericho adjusted himself in his seat, he still wearing his full gear and pack, almost not even fitting in the seat.

"So this… was your original plan?" Spyro asked, turning to Jericho.

"Pretty much. We were going to fix this bird up, then fly straight to… er… straight there." Jericho stumbled, almost giving away where he was going, Spyro looked at him for a bit before turning, letting it go.

"I'm sorry… about your friends. I really am." Spyro said, looking down.

"Don't… worry about it. They knew the risks, and we all agreed we'd get there one day. We all agreed we'd do it no matter what. I want to make sure I honor them by getting there, finishing our mission. It's the least I can do for them."

"You guys are really committed then."

"You could say that."

"You still haven't told me where it is your going, or why you're going there."

Jericho only smirked, not taking his eye off the console.

"Almost Spyro, almost." He turned, looking back behind him towards the troop bay, where Cynder was before turning to look forward again. Spyro just sighed, looking forward again.

Almost.

They flew for another few minutes, the time as silent as could be with the roar of those engines. Spyro just watched as the different landscapes passed below them from fields to forests to more broken down urban areas. Barely anything remained unlike his city, only small frames of buildings resting in a vast open field. It was like Spyro's hometown was a beacon in a sea of nothingness out here.

Jericho sat forward slightly, catching Spyro's attention as he hadn't moved much in the entire flight.

Spyro turned, seeing a look of alarm on his face.

"What's wrong?" Spyro asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Jericho didn't answer, only looking at the different consoles and outside.

"Shit, shit!" Jericho yelled suddenly pulling his mask to his face and pulling hard on the stick.

Spyro yelled, the sudden jolt slamming him into the controls. He turned his head quickly, looking out of the window. He only managed to see what looked like the wreckage of a city, but what caught his eye was a large cloud of blue-green mist that was rising from it slowly. His view was obscured even more as Jericho pitched the craft hard, turning away quickly. The controls blared out different warnings, lights flashing all around Spyro as he slid around the floor, attempting to grab onto the second chair nearby.

Screams from the bay behind them suggested to Cynder and Flame being tossed around as Jericho pulled hard. Spyro finally managed to settle himself into the chair beside Jericho, finally seeing what was happening outside. The craft was spinning out of control, Jericho cursing as he was unable to control it.

"Jericho! What's going on?!" Spyro yelled.

"I've lost control! Hold on!" Jericho yelled back, pulling hard on the stick, leveling the craft out. The craft spun a bit more before finally coming to a rest, Jericho breathing hard as he slowly lowered the craft to a cliff-face nearby. The craft touched down, the feeling of ground now firmly under them. Spyro let out a deep breath, not even realizing he had been holding it in the entire time.

Jericho sighed himself, his hood and mask still on as he sat back in his chair.

"What… what the hell was that?!" Cynder asked, stumbling into the cockpit. Flame was lying on his back, slowly trying to get up after that ordeal.

Jericho just sat in his chair before unfastening his harness, grabbing his weapon and slowly standing up.

"We uh… hit a bit of a snag…" Jericho said, walking towards the back of the bay.

"A snag? Is that what you call a snag? What the hell was that?" Cynder asked again, following him as he pressed the door release switch. The ramp slowly lowered, touching the ground outside. Air from outside flooded in, having a very musky smell, as if it were from fresh rain fall. The smell wore off after a few moments, becoming normal. Jericho stepped off the ramp, his rifle in hand as he inspected the area. Spyro and the others stepped out, the ground being soft, and covered with grass.

The sight in front of them was certainly something else, something Spyro hadn't seen before. Before them sat an assortment of land covered with thick vegetation, ranging from all different colors and hues like vibrant blues, greens and reds. The feature that caught Spyro's eye the most was the fact that the terrain was very deformed, large rock columns jutting up into the air, trees growing from both on top and on the sides of the rocks. Crystals jutted out from the cliff-faces and from the ground itself, energy radiating from the purple gems. The forest seemed to go on forever, more pillars of rock jutting up in all varying heights and shapes. It reminded Spyro of the flooded city from his own home in the way the land seemed to be randomly fractured.

"Where are we…?" Flame asked, saying what was on Spyro's mind.

"It's an enchanted forest." Jericho said, taking a deep breath from his gas mask.

"Enchanted forest?" Spyro asked, turning to Jericho. Jericho didn't respond, only turning back towards the Osprey, running towards one of the engines.

"It's an area of high energy concentration. They say it was gifted to us by the gods themselves. We draw energy from places like this." Cynder explained, walking towards one of the gemstones jutting from the ground. These gems were very much like the ones they used for currency, but those were yellow and dulled. These instead glowed a vibrant purple, pulsing with energy. Even standing here, several feet away from the crystal Spyro could feel the energy radiating out, giving him strength.

Sparx flew by Spyro's head buzzing near the crystal itself. He let out a low buzz as he himself could feel the energy. It all proved too much for him, and he collapsed to the ground.

"Sparx…" Spyro said, shaking his head. Sparx just lay on the ground, his eyes spinning from disorientation. Cynder shook her head as well, resting a paw on the crystal.

Spyro turned, looking back towards Jericho who rested one hand on the engine, while looking out towards the expanse. Spyro walked up as well, seeing that they had landed at the very edge of the forest, against a cliff. Beyond the drop off lay the ruins of another city, much like Spyro's. However, this city was indeed in far worse shape. Buildings were only frames of themselves, debris and wreckage covering every inch of the area. It didn't appear to be habitable in the least. The signature trademark of this city was the blue-green aura that slowly rose from it, causing the night sky to turn different shades of purple as it reacted with whatever the mist was.

"Jericho?"

"High energy radiation." He simply responded back to Spyro.

"High energy what?"

"It's… it's what's being emitted by these crystals. It's combining with the radiation coming from the city and the updraft killed our engine."

"Is it harmful?"

"For the moment no. It only fried the engine because we were above the city up in that soup." Jericho pointed up to the purple hues that danced above them, where they probably were just earlier.

"Can you fix it?"

"Yeah, probably needs a good jump to cycle all that radiation off. We should probably camp for the night though and wait for that soup to clear up before flying again." Jericho opened the panel to the engine, a few sparks flying out as he did. He let out a sigh, pulling out a wrench from his pack to begin fiddling with the parts. Spyro turned, walking back towards Cynder and Flame.

"So, what's the story?" Cynder asked, seeing Spyro walking back.

"Jericho says the engines got fried up there from the energy. He said we should camp here until it clears up." Spyro pointed up, towards the purple soup of colors. They all looked up as well, watching the colors dance above them.

"Oh yeah, that'd do it." Cynder said, seeing it now.

"I call dibs on that log!" Flame said, racing towards a fallen log nearby. Spyro just shook his head as Sparx joined Flame, racing to be the first to the log. Sparx landed first, sticking his tongue out at Flame who only swatted him away to claim his spot.

"I guess we'll be needing fire wood." Cynder said, walking out towards the forest. Spyro watched her leave, before walking after her.

"Wait, don't you think you could use some help out there?" He offered. She just laughed at him,

"No… no I think I can handle myself." She replied, walking off into the night. Spyro just shook his head, turning back to the log where Flame was already sitting. Jericho was walking back from the craft, watching Cynder leave himself. Once she was well outside of earshot and eyesight he pulled off his gasmask and hood, revealing his very sweaty head.

"Jeez she only took forever to take off… Spyro I don't think I'll be able to do that for much longer. I hope your friend's stop is soon, or I'll kick her off quick." He said, almost in a joke but Spyro wasn't completely sure of that. His smirk reassured him to the former, at least for now.

"Well you said yourself it'll be less than a day before we get there."

"IF the engine holds up. Now I'm not so sure. That was some thick energy up there." Jericho said as he sat down.

"Alright mister I think you owe us an explanation. We helped you leave and you said you'd tell us more, so tell us more!" Flame said, turning to Jericho. Spyro turned to him as well, not being able to think of a better way to say it.

"Alright… fine I'll tell you. None of this goes to her, you hear? I don't trust her, not one bit." Jericho explained.

"Our lips are sealed." Flame said with a smile.

"I'm heading northeast, to New York City."

"New York? Isn't that in the forbidden zone?" Flame said, sitting forward more.

"Indeed it is. Exactly where I want to go."

"Why go there? Why would you want to go there?" Spyro asked, confused himself.

"Simple, it's been my life's mission, my father's life mission and his father's life mission."

"What… is your mission?"

"To deliver this." Jericho fished out the necklace Spyro had seen much earlier from his jacket. The pendant was a small little box with some etching and writing on it. Spyro was even more confused, raising an eyebrow.

"You want to… deliver a necklace…?" Flame said.

"No you dolt, it's a pre-war storage device called a USB. It can store vast amounts of information and this was is to be delivered to New York."

"What's on it that's so important?" Spyro asked.

"I… don't know."

"You… don't know?"

"I told you, yes, I don't know."

"So… you're willing to sacrifice everything and travel across the world to get to New York to deliver something you know nothing about?" Flame asked, leaning back as it looked like Jericho might hit him.

"It was important enough for my father to devote his life to it, as well as his father. It's now up to me to deliver this, no matter what."

Spyro looked closer to the USB, seeing a small circular emblem on it, with the words "Aurora-Borealis" etched around the emblem. For being something so small, it was so important.

"Who're you even delivering it to, that forbidden zone must be home to who knows what. Horrid creatures must occupy those places, who do you think would accept it?" Flame asked again, pushing for more from Jericho.

"You know I've often wondered that myself for so long. Even if New York is just smoldering ruins like all the rest, I'll still deliver it. It's what has kept me and my family going since the war, and I'll complete this mission no matter what. I won't let anybody get in my way, you got that?" Jericho said, turning towards Flame who backed up even more, gulping slightly.

"Got it…"

"So Jericho I have another question, one I've wondered for so long."

Jericho turned to Spyro, looking at him for a second before relaxing on the log.

"Shoot."

"What did happen to your people? Where did they go, and why is the world the way it is?"

"Well, isn't that the question of the century. You want to know what happened to us? You, you happened to us." Jericho crossed his arms, adding to that statement.

"Us? What'd we do to you?"

"What didn't you do to us? You and your ilk waged a war of genocide against us, murdering every last one of us. All these ruins, all this destruction was caused by you and the army of demons."

"Woah, woah, wait a minute! Everyone says you guys whipped yourselves out in a war, and nobody remembers what happened before then. That's impossible!" Flame said, leaping down from the log. Jericho remained where he was, closing his eyes.

"Well if that isn't a convenient excuse. My father remembers it very vividly. He remembers the day your kind came racing through town by town, murdering all they saw. I wouldn't doubt your parents and their parents have hidden these facts. I wouldn't doubt if they had been planted by the Dark Master himself and his Sentinels as propaganda for their own cause."

"That isn't true though…" Spyro said incredulously.

"I know what my father had seen, and what all the other survivors had seen. They can never forget something like that."

"Well wait, if this is true, why would we have done it? Why wage a war like that?"

"You tell me, we never knew why your kind did it, only that you did it. The only reason I told you what I did is because I don't believe you had anything to do with it. It's your parents and grandparents who murdered my people."

Spyro and Flame just sat there, looking at the ground as they took it in. All their lives, they had been told that the humans had whipped themselves out. According to Jericho, their species, their kind had whipped out humanity, destroying their world and taking it from them. Nobody who was from that era could remember a thing from that time, so nobody really knows the truth. Had they really been whipped out like that? Were they really responsible for what had happened…?

"I'm sorry that wasn't the answer you were looking for Spyro but it's what I know, and what I believe." Jericho said as he stood up, gripping his mask softly.

"I… I don't know." Spyro said, stuttering a bit.

"Believe what you want Spyro, the truth is out there. Even after all these years, history hasn't been completely erased." Jericho started walking back towards the Osprey, leaving Spyro and Flame to their thoughts as they sat by the log still.

A sphere of purple energy streaked in-between Spyro and Flame, throwing them to the ground. A great heat passed by as the sphere streaked passed, narrowly missing Jericho and landing on the hull of the Osprey, leaving a scorch mark. Jericho immediately reacted, doing a barrel roll to spin around to face his aggressor.

"I knew it! I knew it!" Cynder yelled, racing from the forest.

"Cynder!" Spyro yelled, watching her race by him.

"I KNEW he was a human! Spyro get down!" She yelled, firing another shot.

"What?! She's a Sentinel! I knew it!" Jericho yelled back, grabbing his rifle and returning fire. Jericho's rifle cracked out with its signature retort, the shots streaking by Cynder as she fired more shots as Jericho.

"Cynder! Jericho!" Spyro yelled, trying to race forward to stop the fighting as they danced around one another, firing. Cynder closed the distance quickly, the energy bolts throwing off his aim. She tackled him to the ground, his rifle flying out of his hands and coming to a halt nearby. Cynder roared down at him, trying to bite at his neck. Jericho didn't give in, instead landing a punch right into her throat. She gagged, recoiling back. Jericho grabbed his knife from its hiding place on his shoulder, going in for the kill.

"No! No!" Spyro yelled, trying to stop this. Cynder saw the sheen of the blade, immediately batting at his arm, knocking it back. Jericho used his leg to kick her gut, sending her flying off of him. Jericho immediately raced for his rifle, grabbing it quickly.

"Spyro! Get back! He's a human, let me handle this!" Cynder yelled.

"Spyro, she's a Sentinel, I knew I recognized her pendants! Take her down!" Jericho yelled, taking cover near the Osprey.

"What? What's he talking about?" Cynder asked, confused. She snapped out of it as bullets streaked by her head.

No! No this wasn't supposed to happen! Everything was falling apart!

Cynder just growled, racing towards Jericho who was behind the Osprey. He saw this, racing around the side. Cynder leaped to engage him but found he was gone. Jericho had rounded the back of the Osprey, dashing behind her to open fire. She yelled, slapping her back to the Osprey's hull. Bullets pinged off of the metal bird, bouncing off everywhere. Jericho moved, copying her early move to round the corner to engage her. Instead she leaped forward again, tackling him. Instead of falling, Jericho used his rifle to grapple with her, falling into her blow before pushing back. He used the butt of the weapon to smack her across the jaw, sending her flying. She slammed into the hull of the craft, sliding down onto the ground. Jericho raced forward, pressing his boot on her chest, his rifle barrel now against her face, his finger ready to pull the trigger.

"No! Jericho! Stop!" Spyro raced forward again, shoving the rifle barrel aside. The weapon went off, the ground beside Cynder's head exploding as the round buried itself deep into the ground. She panted, clenching her eyes.

"Spyro, what the hell?!" She's a Sentinel! Why aren't you letting me kill her?!" Jericho shoved against Spyro, the rifle now pointed back at Cynder. She kicked him, slipping out from underneath him. She stood nearby, breathing in hard as she stared down Jericho who's rifle was squarely pointed at her face.

"You… you knew he was human? Spyro… what's going on?!" She asked, as angry and confused as Jericho was.

"Stop! Just stop it!" Spyro yelled, trying to get ahold of the situation. In truth, Spyro had no idea what the hell he was doing.

"You better start answering fast Spyro, before I put one in-between her eyes…"

"How can you trust him Spyro, don't you know what they've done? Don't you know the evils they're capable of?" Cynder asked, turning to Spyro.

"What you claim is our evil is NOTHING compared to what you and your ilk have done…" Jericho retaliated. Cynder just laughed.

"What my ilk has done? We are SAVING this world and its inhabitance. We are going to bring order and civilization to this world, and rid it once and for all of you."

"See what did I tell you Spyro, their goal all along has been to wipe us out, don't let her confuse you with her propaganda!"

Cynder just shook her head, turning and walking towards the edge of the cliff. She turned towards the destroyed city before facing them again.

"You want the proof you need, take a look there at that city. THIS is what humanity has done to themselves and done to this world. You have brought doom to your entire species and we have decided we will never let you taint this world again."

"You think we did that? You did that to us! You massacred us, and now you're claiming we did it!"

Cynder just laughed again, shaking her head.

"I'm a student of history, Mr. Jericho. I know of your kind, of your past. I know of the atrocities you've committed to one another from the holocaust to the nuclear bombings you inflicted on one another. Your nations committed war against one another over petty things like natural recourses, land or just because your pride let you do no else. I know of the war that happened here, between the great United States and China. I know how it ended, how you bombed each other into oblivion because you couldn't let the other side win… Though that's the story of humanity, isn't it? Destroying everyone so nobody can win."

Jericho just stood in silence, his rifle still pointed at her as she watched him. Her face told all, her still gaze meeting the forger who only looked on in defiance, his face speaking of cracks in the armor, cracks she was exploiting.

"See Spyro, no response. He knows the truth; he just doesn't want to admit it. His species time on this world is over, and it's time for another species to take their place. All humanity has ever done is destroy, and the Dark Master has a plan for us Spyro, a plan for all of us." She looked at Spyro, who only stood and watched, panting as his eyes darted around, unsure, and unwilling to choose a side.

"I see that Dark Master of yours has taught you how to speak well. I'm sure he hasn't told you of the things your side has done either." Jericho said, starting to pace around her in a circle. She merely stood her ground, watching.

"You must do what is required if you are to win a world still in peril from your actions. I make no apology for it."

"So that's it then…" Jericho said, a bit of challenge in his voice.

"Take that as you will." She began to glare at Jericho, her claws tense on the ground, ready to strike.

Spyro just sat and watched, caught in the middle of a fight that had been boiling for not only a day but for several years, decades even. On one hand he had Jericho, who he wanted to believe was good, was fighting for a just cause against the Sentinels and on the other he had a Sentinel who spoke confidently and made no apology. What if she was right, what if he was right? What if none of them were right?

"Well Spyro?" Cynder asked, turning to him for assurance who's side he'd take. Jericho turned slightly, his eyes looking right into Spyro's as if to plead him not to side with her.

"Think of what they've done to you Spyro, what they've done to your friends and allies… the Sentinels aren't to be trusted."

He was right, nothing added up. The Sentinels were out for him, he couldn't just accept their word… There was something to this all. At this point he couldn't trust a word spoken.

"Guys! Guys!" Flame said suddenly, yelling as he had been several feet back until just now.

"What, what is it?" Spyro asked before turning towards the city. It was then he saw it, a wall of greyish-green gas flooding towards them from up above, like a tidal wave about to strike the coast.

"Shit, high energy storm!" Jericho yelled before pulling his gas mask back on and dashing for the Osprey. Spyro just panted, watching the wave as it drew closer and closer, only feeling Flame pull on him to move, Sparx zipping by his head as they raced towards the Osprey as well. Cynder gasped, dashing herself as the wave was only moments away from colliding into them. Jericho was the first to get in, standing by the entrance as he ushered Spyro, Flame and Sparx inside. Cynder was the last, several feet behind them as she dashed quickly to get inside.

Jericho wouldn't have it. He pulled out his side arm from his pouch, pointing it right at Cynder.

"Not you. You can perish in this storm." Jericho said coldly, his pistol gleaming in the light. Spyro turned, seeing this with fear and agony. Cynder looked at him, the once stone-cold face full of anger and hatred for Jericho now replaced with genuine fear, her body tensing and jolting with panic as the storm grew ever closer.

"Jericho!" Spyro yelled, running back to the door.

"No! If she wants to change the world, let her. We'll see how her Dark Master can protect her from this storm." He slammed on the switch, the ramp beginning to rise up slowly. Cynder looked around in a great panic, looking for anywhere to take shelter in. She needed to get away before…

Before…

Too late.

The storm slammed into the cliff all at once, harsh winds slapping over them and nearly knocking Cynder into the air. She dug her claws into the ground, bracing herself as green gasses passed over her. She screamed out harshly, small crystals flying through the air and cutting her scales like miniature knives.

Spyro could only watch as the harsh winds slapped against her, tears rolling down as she was in agonizing pain. The ramp's progress was agonizingly slow, slowly obscuring her form from view, making the lump in his throat get harder and harder, almost wanting to leap out.

She was a Sentinel, an enemy to him and to Jericho. Her kind had hunted him down in his hometown, tried to kill him, kill his friend. However, she did save him. She helped him escape, and she was the only hope he had to removing this elemental bracelet. She was also in grave danger… He… he couldn't just watch her die.

Spyro hadn't even realized his body was moving, his mind still sitting back in the troop bay, but his body was already halfway onto the rising ramp, leaping out into the harsh storm.

"Spyro, what the hell are you doing?!" Jericho yelled, trying to pull him back in.

"We can't just leave her, I have to do something!" Spyro yelled back, pulling himself over the ramp.

"You fool! You can't save her! She's doomed!" He yelled back, unable to persuade the dragon otherwise. He fell onto the ground, the winds already proving to be unrelenting, and were threatening to carry the young dragon off into the night. He had to send his claws deep into the ground, just to anchor his body down. Cynder was almost unconscious, her body pinned from the winds. Sparks of energy came off her body, and blood was beginning to seep from her wounds, inflicted by the crystals. Spyro could feel them too, cutting him like small knives. The pain was intense, and it was hard to focus. He could feel them all over, but he could also feel them within as well. Each breath he took he felt the crystals slipping deep into his throat and lungs, slicing his skin on the way down.

Maybe this was a mistake, maybe he had just gotten himself killed as well.

What were only a few feet seemed like several miles. Spyro pulled himself inch by inch towards her, using his talons like ice picks to traverse that short but impossible distance. He pulled himself to her, throwing one of his arms over her, attempting to pull her in. He thrust his other arm down, beginning to pull himself to the Osprey.

Jericho just watched, silent and astonished. Here, Spyro had risked it all for an enemy, not only to him but to Jericho as well. Why was he trying so hard to save her? As the ramp grew closer and closer to closing, Jericho just looked into Spyro's eyes as he returned the look, one of fear but determination. What drove this dragon? Was it pride, was it survival? Or, was it something else entirely. No, honor didn't exist in this world, or in any world. What drove this dragon then…?

"Jericho! We can't just let them die!" Flame yelled, his body tensing as he was about ready to leap out the bay himself.

"God… damn it!" Jericho yelled before slamming on the door release, the ramp slowly lowering again. The door lowered in an almost agonizing pace, revealing a young purple dragon who held tightly onto Cynder as he used one arm to anchor both their bodies to the ground. As soon as it was possible, Jericho and Flame both dashed out, grabbing onto the two dragons and pulling them inside.

"Go, go, quickly!" Jericho yelled, pulling them as far in as he could before moving to the switch to raise the ramp again. Flame continued to pull them in, pulling them as far from the entryway as he could.

The ramp rose once more, slowly obscuring the harsh world of outside from the group who had just endured its trials. Jericho pulled his mask from his face, breathing in deep while sliding down onto the chair closest to the ramp. His side arm was still in his hand, his finger still on the trigger. He closed his eyes, slipping his hand away from it. He brought both his hands up to wipe his face of the sweat, before looking at Spyro and Cynder.

The storm had not been kind to either of them. Cuts riddled their bodies from the airborne crystals, and the harsh winds had tossed other things into them as well. Cynder was completely unconscious, and Spyro was panting nearby, no energy left for him to spare from the ordeal. Flame was fishing through one of his packs, looking for some water desperately. Jericho just sighed, standing up and walking to the front of the craft before returning with his own canteen and a small oxygen mask. He handed them to Spyro, Jericho using his own hand to feed the water to Spyro since he couldn't hold it. Spyro drank several gulps down, not letting a drop go to waste. Jericho pulled back on the canteen, now giving the oxygen mask to Spyro so he could breathe clean air again, pure untainted air.

"Why… why'd you do it…?" Spyro asked in-between gasps of air from the mask. Jericho just looked at him as he sat nearby.

"Why'd I do it? Why'd you do it? She's an enemy. Why would you risk your life for an enemy?"

"We… couldn't just leave her there… it… it isn't right…" Spyro panted out. Jericho just shook his head.

"'It isn't right?' Where in this world can you find any right left?" Jericho asked. Spyro didn't respond, only taking big gasps of air. Jericho continued to look at him before he saw Spyro's attention shift to Cynder who was on the ground.

"She'll be fine… She just needs clean air and time to rest. Those storms can sap you dragons of your energy instantly, and then it can suck the very life from you. You're both luck you weren't out there longer." Jericho explained, standing up.

"What kind of storm was that…?" Flame asked, helping Spyro with his mask. Sparx helped too, trying his hardest to hold it up with his own weight, only getting a smirk from Spyro.

"Those storms happen when energy from places like this mix with radiation from nuclear fallout zones. That city is still full of radiation, and when they mix the downdrafts of energy can be lethal." Jericho walked back to the cockpit, sitting in his pilot's seat. He looked out into the night, seeing as the storm continued to rage on around them. He could barely see the city now, its illuminated ruins somewhat visible through the high winds and clouds of energy. It was strange that the ruins were like this, illuminated by the energy and radiation. It was… a sight to behold, especially in a chaotic scene such as this.

Flame left Spyro for the moment, walking into the cockpit with Jericho. Jericho had raised both his arms to rest behind his head, his gaze fixed on the ruins in the distance. Flame looked at him, as if to ask 'what now?' Jericho just sat silently before stirring.

"I hope your friend knows what he's doing. I won't let him or that Sentinel stop my mission. I will do what's necessary, and I won't show mercy." Jericho said, his gaze never flinching. Flame just looked down, sighing.

"I hope he knows what he's doing too…" Flame said silently.

End of Chapter 05

Hey guys, sorry for the long hiatus _ I had to take time off to take care of other things like…. Video games… and… more video games. Oh, and some college as well. I finally got sick so had nothing to do so I wrote this all in 3 sittings! Huzzah for being sick! (not really) I'm going to cross my fingers that 6 won't take as long but… we'll have to see. I hate myself sometimes. Until next time guys!


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